Iron Shadows & Frail Flowers
by CrankshaftRabbit
Summary: After the conflict with Eggman finally ended, the short-lived peace on Mobius is shattered when Shadow declares war with the Kingdom of Acorn, determined to take the seat of power for himself. Things are further complicated when he begins to tentatively pursue a former member of the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Her name...Amy Rose. Rated M for content.
1. Prologue

**-Prologue-**

The planet Mobius, the terra formation once called Earth ravaged and threatened by the alien race Xorda, had seen its fair share of misfortune throughout the ages since then. And the most unfortunate thing was that it appeared it would never end. Two wars have torn through the land and a third was drawing to a close.

The planet's population was split into two beings. Humans of course, and Mobians, created in part by a bio-weapon forged Xorda. The aliens had intended to wipe out the entire human race, but instead created an evolution in the animal kingdom, making them anthropomorphic and intelligent.

Apart from the echidna who took shelter on a floating island, and a few other mobian clans, most were united under the banner of the Kingdom of Acorn.

XXXXXX

Generations later, the Kingdom of Acorn in its second war with the tyrant, Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik. The insane, power hungry, and robotics-obsessed man was hell bent on ruling the planet as his own no matter what the cost. Out from the battlefields of war rose the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

Led by Sally Acorn, the princess of the ill-fated city of Mobotropolis and the latest heir of the royal family, the band consisted of the famous cyan speedy hedgehog known as Sonic, technicians, Rotor Walrus and Miles 'Tails' Prower, Bunny Rabbot, a rabbit mobian who had the misfortune of becoming partially roboticized, Antoine DeCoolette, a soldier of the royal guard, and Amy Rose, a young sakura female hedgehog from noble birth and hailing from the Kingdom of Mercia.

The last, but most special member of the team was NICOLE, a computer program that evolved into a sentient being, having able to have a physical body of her own.

For half a decade, the Freedom Fighters continued their onslaught on Eggman's Empire being often aided by the echidna guardian and his Chaotix team and other cells of Freedom Fighters.

Finally, after fifteen years of conflict, it was done. The Eggman Empire toppled to its foundation and Mobius was liberation from the robotic mad man. But it came with consequences. King Maximilian Acorn was now dead and the power of the monarchy fell into Sally's hands. To make matters worse, G.U.N., the military force based in the United Federation territories, had fallen into a sense of chaos and anarchy to a point where Station Square became nothing but a dead zone with no hope of recovery. Shadow the Hedgehog, previously employed by G.U.N. and known as the 'Ultimate Lifeform' had mysteriously vanished, E-123 Omega had been permanently deactivated, and Rouge the Bat became a full mercenary. All of the smaller villainous networks were causing spontaneous problems for the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

But overtime, these networks were suddenly disappearing one by one by an unseen Force...

* * *

 **AN: Suuuuuurrrrrrprriiiiiiissssssseee :) More to come later. Keep in mind that this is a rewrite, so things are going to be different. But they'll be just as good as the original ;)**


	2. Chapter 1

**-Chapter 1-**

 ***2 Years Later...***

Mobius had certainly seen a change after the war with Eggman was over. The Kingdom of Acorn had expanded to where it now ruled over two-thirds of the whole planet. Princess Sally was now referred to as 'Queen', which automatically put Sonic in charge of the Knothole Freedom Fighters by default, as the blue-eyed squirrel's time was dominated by the affairs of state. Although peace should have been emanating throughout the lands, the recent strings of attacks on Acorn territory outposts which left no survivors nor any evidence of who or what caused it, drew apprehension amongst the populace.

It also caused alarm for the Kingdom of Acorn and its allies. The Freedom Fighters were working round the clock and to the bone to try and uncover this frightening mystery.

Meanwhile, back at home, life seemed to move on, but it was somewhat chaotic. And Amy Rose seemed to be getting the worst of it.

In spite of greatly maturing these past years and proving her worth in battle the sakura hedgehog found herself suddenly being sort of regarded as a child again. At first, she just thought that the atmosphere of recent events was prompting all the negativity in people. After all, anything like what had been going on would make about anyone edgy. However after a while, Amy started to suspect that there might be another reason. Almost a year ago, after a long hard day of work, Amy had politely asked Sonic if perhaps he would like to go out to dinner on her tab. But the cerulean speedster gruffly refused her invitation.

"Sorry Amy, I don't have time for that." Sonic had said rather coldly in a sort of lashing out tone.

Amy was quite taken aback at his attitude, but felt that maybe he had a much harder day than her and just needed his space.

"Well, alright." she had replied softly. "I won't push it if you don't want to."

Since that afternoon, it seemed all the respect and recognition Amy had earned throughout the years went slowly out the window for some reason.

Offer a nice invitation to a friend and look what happens.

The only other people who seemed to treat Amy civilly more or less were Knuckles and his Chaotix team. The cherry-pink female had actually told the guardian and his soulmate, Julie-Su of the incident, not intending to cause any trouble. Knuckles replied that she needn't worry about it and suggested that she refrain from invitations even if her intentions were good as they were in a semi-state of conflict.

As much as Amy had tried not to let it bother her, she couldn't help but notice a change in the air.

Now, she was given only small, meaningless jobs and duties. No longer fighting in the field, the young flower kept radio contact with the other outposts and checked inventory from time to time. Wanting to prove herself again, the sakura hedgehog made a huge effort not to make a mistake in any of her assignments. She didn't want to give Sally, Sonic, or any of the other Freedom Fighters an excuse to rag on her, or something. Amy even went as far as not speaking personally to Sonic again. Her efforts appeared to pay off when Bunnie, Rotor, and even NICOLE were opening back up to her. On the other hand, she didn't quite know if she had her hard work to thank for that, or not talking to Sonic. Or maybe both. It hurt to think that the only time she ever spoke to him was about business especially since she had a great love for him. But as time wore on, that love was dwindling away by the day as the cherry-pink female began to move on. Plus, she was starting to get homesick for Mercia.

One night, Amy decided to put in a call to her cousin, Rob'O the Hedge. He was the King of the young flower's home country and the leader of its branch of Freedom Fighters.

"I don't really know, Rob." Amy had said. "Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like I'm being slowly pushed out of the group or something."

"But dearest cousin, you're just as brave, and well of a fighter as the others." the pine green hedgehog protested. "Perhaps I should speak to Queen Sally."

Amy's throat went nearly dry.

"No...I don't think that'll be necessary, Rob." she murmured with a heavy sigh.

The last thing she wanted right now was Sally hearing that the young flower was complaining.

"It'll be alright, Rob." Amy continued. "Maybe I'm just overblowing the whole thing."

"If you insist, Rose." Rob'O replied.

"Anyway, is everything alright back home?"

"Only just. You should be aware that Mari-An is expecting again."

"Yes I know. She'll be having the new member of the family soon right?"

"Very."

"How's Lil' Jon doing?"

"Very well. He's begun training a full moon ago now."

"That's wonderful. Give him my love won't you?"

"Of course, dear cousin."

xxxxxx

A few months later, it was official. Sally and Sonic were going out again. Most people were happy that they were an item once more, Amy meanwhile wasn't the least bit surprised. But she wasn't upset. AS long as Sonic was happy, she was happy. It was pretty pointless to pursue him now. With this turn of events, the young flower had hoped that the tension between herself and a few of the other Freedom Fighters would ease up. Not quite.

Sonic was sort of still treating her like a doormat, and she got little help out of Sally. Amy still had unimportant jobs and duties to perform and couldn't even remember the last time she was on the battlefield.

To make matters worse, the lingering peace was shattered when the attacks on outposts almost became a daily occurrence. Panic ensued, and the Freedom Fighters certainly had their work cut out for them. The yellow alert was now red.

XXXXXXX

Presently, Amy was doing her usual routine of checking inventory. The sakura hedgehog triple checked that everything was in order. She didn't want any of her friends without the necessary tools in case of another outpost attack.

"Okay then..." she muttered to herself while going over a check list. "Rations, check...shield generators, check. Definitely gonna need 'em."

Amy was so wrapped up in her work, that she didn't even notice Julie-Su coming into the warehouse.

"Amy?" the lavender echidna called out.

"Laser cartridges ammunition..." Amy continued.

"Amy!"

The cherry-pink female suddenly jumped when she finally heard her sparring partner.

"Jeeze, Julie-Su..." she rasped, clutching her chest.

"Sorry, I know you're busy." Julie-Su apologized. "But there's something I need to tell you."

Amy turned around and went back to where she left off.

"Okay, you talk, I'll listen." she told the female echidna.

"...This is important, Amy." the Chaotix member gently told Amy, placing her hands onto the young flower's shoulders.

Amy saw in Julie-Su's eyes that whatever she had to say was actually really serious.

"What happened?" Amy asked.

"The Crazy Critter Freedom Fighters were conducting an exercise when they...unfortunately got into some trouble."

Amy's face went pale. That was the cell of Freedom Fighters that her cousin was in charge of.

"What kind of trouble?"

"Well, we're not quite sure if was an ambush, a trap, or just simply an accident, but there was a minefield planted where they were doing their exercise."

Now the sakura hedgehog look as if she were ready to faint.

"...Rob?"

"He and a few others were injured but they're expected to make a full recovery. But the rest..."

Julie-Su didn't even have to finish her sentence for Amy to comprehend the situation. There was a brief moment of silence before the cherry-pink female could collect her thoughts.

"I need to go to Mercia...right away..." she rasped. "But then I'd have to get clearance from..."

"Don't worry about it, Amy." Julie-Su assured her. "Knux is already looking into it. And besides, Rob'O the Hedge personally requested a transfer."

Amy frantically ran a hand through her bangs. If her own cousin was specifically asking for her, then things must be really bad. Especially since her cousin-in-law, Mari-An was expecting their second child. With Rob'O's injury, he wouldn't be able to help her to raise their newborn for at least the first few months.

Julie-Su, sensing the young flower's distress, took her by the hand.

"C'mon, I'll help you pack."

XXXXXXX

An hour later, Amy emerged from her cottage in New Mobotropolis with an overnight bag and a clearance card. She already bid her farewells to mostly everyone and was ready to depart to Mercia. On her way to the transport station, the sakura hedgehog ran into none other than Sonic, was sort of there to see her off.

"Oh, hello Sonic." Amy greeted.

"...Hey." the Blue Blur mumbled.

Amy sure felt pretty awkward right about now.

"So you're really leaving, huh?" Sonic asked.

"Of course." Amy replied. "I have to..."

"I see. I guess I'll catch ya on the flip side, then."

And with that, the royal blue hedgehog left. Amy stared after him feeling a little annoyed. Was that all he could say to her?

' _Whatever..._ ' the cherry-pink female thought. ' _I've got more important things to worry about..._ '

She boarded the airship and took one last look at New Mobotropolis before it took off.


	3. Chapter 2

**-Chapter 2-**

The attacks on Acorn outposts did not cease. And now they were happening at an alarmingly daily occurrence. Even some of the Freedom Fighters' older enemies syndicates were going underground, like rats fleeing a ship, out of fear of being destroyed by this mysterious yet hostile and deadly force. Others meanwhile grudgingly brokered truces with the Kingdom of Acorn for protection and assistance. But it did little to soothe the fears of the populace.

A few weeks after Amy departed from New Mobotropolis, the Knothole Freedom Fighters held a briefing on how they should proceed at this point.

"Okay people, as of today we heave six outposts down." Sally begin. "They all have two things in common. No evidence, no survivors."

"With that M.O., wouldn't that mean that it's the same person or people responsible?" Tails asked.

"Precisely."

"How do you suppose we can counter this?" Antione inquired.

"It's dangerous, but at this point we really have a choice." the Queen continued. "I propose a plan that the Freedom Fighters go undercover to one of the other outposts that's still standing. Then we can wait for the perpetrator or perpetrators to make their move."

"Why the incognito route, Sal?" Sonic asked.

"Because that way, whoever's behind this, won't suspect anything or us being onto him, her, or them."

"That makes sense." Rotor commented. "We'll have the advantage with a surprise counter attack."

"Oh goody, I love surprises." Sonic said, rubbing his hands together.

"Alright people, this briefing is adjourned." Sally declared. "Start packing your bags, you're all heading for Outpost 10."

"The one outside of Portal on Angel Island?" the cerulean speedster quirked. "Whoo, boy. I wonder if Knux is back from Mazuri?"

XXXXXXX

In Mercia, Amy was sitting in her cousin-in-law, Mari-An's room quietly reading a book while the female echidna was in bed nursing the latest edition of the family. Just the night before, Mari-An birthed a male hoglett who was the spitting image of his father. She and Rob'O named him after dad after he was born.

Amy continued to read quietly so she wouldn't disturb the peaceful silence, while Mari-An began rocking her little one to sleep. A few minutes later, Rob'O the Hedge himself entered the room limping and supporting all his weight onto a single crutch. He healed quite considerably well after running into a minefield, but he still had a broken leg that needed full recovery.

"Rob, what are you doing out of bed?" Amy scolded.

"Don't fuss over me, dear Rose." the pine green hedgehog replied as he hobbled over to his wife.

"Please don't strain yourself over my account, love." Mari-An meekly told him.

"Nonsense. Bum leg or not isn't going to stop me from visiting you and Rob the Younger."

Amy got up from her chair when she noticed the strain that her cousin put on his body to lean down and embrace his mate and went over to him so she could provide him with physical support.

"At least sit down in a chair or somethin'." Amy protested.

"I'm fine I tell you..." Rob'O insisted.

Nevertheless, the sakura hedgehog grabbed a nearby chair and made him sit in it. A few moments later, she decided to give her cousins some privacy and turned to leave.

"I'm going to check up with Jon." she declared. "I'll be right back, okay?"

Both Rob'O and Mari-An acknowledged her with a nod before she left. Then the pine green hedgehog's features turned grim.

"What is it, my love?" Mari-An asked.

"...I'm beginning to wonder if I made the right decision in requesting Rose's transfer." Rob'O quietly replied. "She works so hard for us and I in my current state, am unable to repay her."

A gentle smile graced the reddish brown female's muzzle.

"You're her family, dear. I don't think she minds terribly." she said.

"It is not just that. Things are becoming much more dangerous these days. I first sent Rose into the sanctuary of Knothole for her own safety when the tyrant Robotnik reared his ugly face here. I thought that with him now gone forever, peace would follow. How we've been made fools of..."

There was a pause.

"I'm quite certain that things will turn out alright." Mari-An said. "The Kingdom of Acorn hasn't given a reason to doubt them."

"But I wonder if Queen Sally and her valiant Freedom Fighters will be able to defeat this nightshade of an enemy. This viper is unlike anything I've ever heard or seen before."

"You're worrying too much, my love." Mari-An replied. "We shouldn't lose faith in Queen Sally and Sonic now."

"Perhaps you're right."

The pair exchanged warm grins and nuzzled heads.

XXXXXX

Outside the city of Portal, Sonic and the Freedom Fighters were integrated into the civilian society of the tenth Acorn Outpost. Nobody knew that the famous Sonic the Hedgehog or the Knothole Freedom Fighters were among them. That was the idea. In order to keep the element of surprise and not create suspicion that would cause the enemy avoid the colony outright, no one was made aware of the heroes' presence. Even the Outpost's appointed leaders were kept in the dark. The people living there were nervous enough as it was. Each of the Freedom Fighters heard rumblings about moving to the capital for safety. A few hours later, Sonic hooked up with Tails.

"Boy, everybody here is scared shitless." the Blue Blur commented.

"Can't say that I blame them." Tails replied. "If some maniac or monster was going around destroying outposts and killing innocent people, I'd be scared too."

"Anyway, any update from home?"

"Sally says that she's got a backup unit ready to go, so all we have to do is say the word."

"Sweet. Well, hopefully this'll go smooth."

"Definitely."

The next day, the Freedom Fighters remained ever more vigilant of anything that might be wrong. But things were quaint and peaceful as they were. The civilians were also nice and polite in spite of what was happening in recent events.

Soon, the sun was beginning to set. It was a gorgeous sunset. The floating clouds above were painted in colors of gold, fiery orange, and scarlet. A cool breeze rippled through the air, signaling that autumn was well on its way. Sonic was sitting outside a nearby tavern with a cup of hot apple cider in his hands. For day 2, this wasn't bad. The royal blue male had to wonder if perhaps the attackers were planning to graze a different outpost than this. That would really suck.

' _Well, it has been only two days._ ' he thought. ' _This stuff just doesn't happen overnight. At least the planning part of it..._ '

Suddenly, the ground rumbled beneath Sonic's sneakers, causing his beverage to vibrate in his hands. Looking up, he saw Flickies and other birds fleeing west, almost frantically tweeting. Then there was a loud and huge explosion that nearly shattered the cerulean speedster's eardrums.

' _SHIT!_ '

He raced at his signature speed to the source of the explosion. The other Freedom Fighters were also alerted by the sudden and behemoth flames that erupted. People were already running for their lives away from the towering infernos that nearly obliterated everything upon impact. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters assisted many a civilian as they tried to locate the cause of all the explosions. It was enough to bring chaos and confusion.

"You know, we could really use Knux right about now." Sonic rasped.

"I already called the back-up unit." Rotor replied.

"Wait! Ah think Ah see somethin'!" Bunnie exclaimed.

Indeed, up ahead was a large dark shape that appeared to be a landing convoy. And by the subsequent appearance of figures exiting the shape, Sonic could rightly guess that these guys were responsible for the calamity going on.

' _These must be the punks who fried the other outposts.._ ' the Blue Blur thought.

Then as the heroic team got closer, they were suddenly in for a complete shock.

Standing before them and fully armed, was the Dark Egg Legion. One would think that they must've regrouped and reformed as the Dark Legion again after Dr. Eggman's fall. But there was someone leading them and despite the fact that she was present, Lein-Da wasn't leading them. Nor was Dimitri. Instead, it was Shadow the Hedgehog. The symbol that was plastered on their vehicles and stitched onto their uniforms and flags was the ebony hedgehog's own insignia.

Sonic, Tails, nor any of the other Freedom Fighters couldn't believe what they were seeing. This _had_ to be a joke. A really sick joke.

"... _Shadow_?!" Sonic rasped. " _You_?!"

"So, you've finally caught on, blue hedgehog?" Shadow replied, not seeming to care at all. "Feh, pathetic. It just further proves you and that Acorn queen are unfit to rule this planet."

"What the hell are you talking about?! And what the hell are the Dark Egg Legion doing with ya?"

"It doesn't matter. _**My**_ Dark Presence are under my command now. At least you've provided me with the opportunity to dispose of you without dealing with the Acorn rabble."

That really struck a nerve in each of the Freedom Fighters. Shadow might've been an ally once before, but this really pushed the envelope more than they could tolerate. They couldn't excuse him for heartlessly murdering innocent lives as if they were nothing.

"FREEDOM FIGHTERS, ATTACK!" Sonic roared.

Shadow simply narrowed his ruby eyes and let out a 'hmpf'.

"Do as you will." he told Lein-Da and the Dark Presence. "I have no interest in prisoners."

The Dark Presence legionaries charges at their opponents and gave their all. Sonic and the Freedom Fighters were taken off guard by their brutal fighting style. It was as if they ceased to be the bumbling bullies from long ago and fought like real heavy-duty soldiers. Shadow must have given them hard core military training. Becoming vastly outnumbered, the Freedom Fighters nearly found themselves getting K. .

Then almost like a miracle, the Calvary had arrived. An airship bearing the royal crest of the Acorn dynasty landed nearby and soldiers from the royal army quickly emptied out of it. Now the scales were balanced.

"Eempecible timeng..." Antione rasped as he lunged his blade at a legionnaire.

Shadow had by this time returned to his own airship that previously landed when the Dark Presence initially launched their assault. Lein-Da noticed the Acorn soldiers and braced for a real battle.

"Looks like we really have their attention." she commented.

Shadow didn't seem to take any note of them however.

"Hmph, I don't have time for this." he hissed. "This outpost is no longer of any use to them. Pull back."

The auburn-furred echidna gave a look of disbelief.

"We're retreating?" she cried.

"No Lein-Da, we are not retreating." the crimson-splashed male replied. "As I said, this outpost is no longer of any use to them. Just for now, we won't be including it into our collection."

"And I suppose we're not taking Angel Island either?"

"Patience, my dear. We must build our forces first. The Master Emerald is too well guarded and it will be more so after today. If we rush things now, all our efforts will be for naught."

Lein-Da held in a growl, but understood the logic of his words. She then turned towards the commander of her garrison.

"Order a pull back." she told him.

"Aye, Kommissar." he replied. "DARK PRESENCE, PULL BACK!"

One by one, the legionnaires fired their last shots from their weapons, and retreated back into their airship. In spite of the Freedom Fighters' best efforts, the Dark Presence managed to escape without getting captured by the enemy.

However, to everyone else's relief, none of the civilians were seriously hurt, nor were there any casualties.

With the Dark Presence gone, the Freedom Fighters could only assist the Acorn soldiers in putting out the fires and getting everyone to safety.

"At least now we know who's behind all the outpost attacks..." Tails said rather somberly.


	4. Chapter 3

**AN: I apologize if the chapters appear short. I will make them longer as we go. Other than that, enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **-Chapter 3-**

Amy was with her first cousin once-removed, Lil' Jon watching him doing is usual daily practice of archery. The sakura hedgehog noted that he was getting better and better at it every day. Maybe within a month or two, he'd be able to join the Mercia branch of the Freedom Fighters. If Rob'O would let him that is. In one shot, Jon nearly got the bulls-eye.

"Aim just a little lower, Jon!" the cherry-pink female called out.

"Got it!" the echidna youngster called back.

He lowered his arrow slightly by a few centimeters, and fired. Right in the red center.

"There ya go!" Amy said cheerfully.

"Did father ever teach you archery?" Jon asked.

"Oh sure. Loooong before you were born."

Just then, the pair saw two air speedster jets zoom by above them. Amy recognized them. They were from New Mobotropolis. She wondered what had happened to have them fly by.

"What are _those_?!" Jon asked, a little marveled by the appearance of jets.

Since their home was mostly a woodland dwelling where there wasn't much modernized technology beyond communication and weaponry to some degree, sights such as these were somewhat rare.

"Those are scout jets." Amy explained. "I think they're passing by to see if everything's okay."

"Wow..." Jon replied.

Later that day, Amy found Rob'O in his office and in his desk looking over some papers.

"Rob?" she softly called out, prompting the pine green hedgehog to look up. "Am I interrupting?"

"Oh not at all, dear one." Rob'O replied. "Come in."

Amy stepped into the room and sat in a nearby chair.

"Something troubling you?" her cousin inquired.

"Well, I'm sure if you noticed them, but I saw scout jets from New Mobotropolis earlier today."

A look of restrained emotion came over the Mercian King's features.

"Yes, I saw them." he admitted.

"Did something happen? They wouldn't have come all this way if there was nothing wrong."

"Indeed..."

Rob'O let out a heavy sigh before revealing what he knew to the young flower.

"It appears the Knothole Freedom Fighters have unmasked the brutes behind all the Acorn Outpost attacks." he began.

Amy blinked in surprise.

"Who was it?" she asked with wide eyes.

"You're familiar with the hedgehog known as Shadow, yes?" Rob'O asked.

Then Amy let out a gasp.

" _HIM_?!" she exclaimed nearly jumping out of her chair. "HE'S THE ONE DOING ALL THAT?!"

"Please calm yourself, dear." the pine hedgehog said in a smooth voice. "And yes, along with Robotnik's former army, the Dark Egg Legion."

"Why would he do this? I thought he was a hero like Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles."

"Apparently, we have been misled, cousin. In any case, it seems he's declared war on the Kingdom of Acorn. And given his...fierce reputation, I would expect things to get quite dangerous in the very near future."

Amy started to fume. She had previously worked with him in the past, and he seemed to be dedicated to protecting the planet. He must have lost his mind at some point.

"...So, what's going to happen now?" the sakura hedgehog asked softly.

"As I said, it appears that Shadow fully intends to declare war on the Acorns." Rob'O explained. "It still astounds me that even after all these peaceful years, we are yet finding ourselves in the treacherous web of conflict."

"Psh, he doesn't have a chance in hell. Sonic's beaten him before. And if I know Sally, she won't give in without a fight."

"Right you are, dear one. However, we shan't count our chickens before they hatch and take Shadow too lightly. Word has it that he has already conquered a good portion of our planet."

"What?! Seriously?!"

"Aye."

"But we're gonna fight back right? I wouldn't mind kicking his butt."

The pine-green hedgehog let out a light-hearted laugh and stood up from his desk, patting the cherry-pink female on her shoulder.

"Be patient, Rose. I'm quite sure you'll get your chance." he said jokingly.

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile, deep in an almost impenetrable forest, that grew on the edge of what remained of Station Square and the United Federation, stood a whole militarized compound. This was how Shadow the Hedgehog and his now Dark Presence evaded detection from the Kingdom of Acorn and other forces for years.

Because of that, Shadow was able to build up his own forces in the form of the former Dark Egg Legion and train them up to his standards. No longer were they the bumbling brutes that were under Lein-Da and previously Kragok's command. Their duties were taken much more seriously and they obeyed without question or hesitation. Anyone who fell out of line would be dispatched by the midnight warrior without batting an eye.

One could say that Shadow had gone mad with power over the years, but his accomplice, Lein-Da didn't see things that way. Of all the collaborations she had with her twin brother, her grandfather, and Eggman, she admired Shadow's way of getting things done. It achieved results that they weren't able to obtain before, and now their adversaries were running with their tails between their legs. She thought that she should've joined with the Ultimate Lifeform long ago. The female echidna could hardly stand with patience until they finally trample Knuckles' and his forces, take over Angel Island and the Kingdom of Acorn with it.

Now presently, Shadow was in the midst of planning his next move. Lein-Da observed that he was in much deeper thought about what he wanted to do, or have done. Most likely because now the Kingdom of Acorn was now fully aware of their existence and no doubt they were probably trying to find a way to counter them. The ebony leather clad echidna listened quietly as he superior looked over a whole holographic map charting Mobius.

"We have control of these areas, which is a good start. But the Acorns still have the majority of the planet. Despite the number of men we have, we're still shorthanded." the crimson-splashed male murmured.

"How can that be?" Lein-Da inquired. "We're just about evenly matched."

"True. But the Acorns can just as easily recruit more civilians to aid their cause. We need a better edge."

Then Shadow zoomed in on an area that was also heavily forested.

"But first, we'll take over a major territory." he said. "We have enough forces to firmly sow our seeds in just one."

Lein-Da arched a brow when she saw his choice of location.

"Mercia, sir?" she said. "It's mostly a splinter kingdom is it not?"

"Yes. Something which will cost them dearly." Shadow replied. "In addition, this territory is not yet fully modernized. All we need is to neutralize their communications."

"And it will be a cakewalk."

"For the most part. But we mustn't underestimate the situation. Since this is a mostly woodland area, we need to be prepared for anything."

Lein-Da quite frankly couldn't see why they had to be so cautious. But thus far, Shadow hadn't steered them wrong, so she couldn't doubt him. She folded her arms as the midnight warrior continued to carefully study he map.

"So then, when shall we depart?" she asked.

"...Tonight." Shadow replied in a low voice.

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile in New Mobotropolis, the Freedom Fighters had returned from Outpost 10 with its survivors. Shortly afterward, they relayed what had occurred there to Queen Sally in the castle throne room.

"Are you...are you guys _sure_ it was Shadow?" she asked.

"It was him alright." Sonic replied. "Him and the friggin' Dark Egg Legion-Presence...or whatever the hell he called them. You get the idea."

"So, the Dark Egg Legion allied themselves with Shadow and they're the ones attacking the outposts?"

"He wants to make war with us mon Queen." Antoine rasped. "He aims to take over ze world!"

"Well...that much 'Twan's got right." Tails murmured.

"But I don't understand." Sally protested. "Why would Shadow do this? And what would he intend to gain from it?"

"Maybe he hit his head again in a really bad way." Sonic quirked. "But fact of the matter is, he's doing evil stuff and that equates major ass-kicking. Of the highest degree."

"Sally, gal." Bunnie began. "We can't just let 'em go on with this. He's getting to be worse than Robotnik!"

"Yeah, unlike Robotnik, Shadow's actually has a body count that's skyrocketing." Rotor added.

There was a brief silence as the auburn squirrel thought about what she should do next. Whatever decision she made would not be an easy one.

"Alright, here's what we will do." she said. "First, we issue a warning to the other territories of the threat. That way everyone will know what we're dealing with. Then the Freedom Fighters will keep Shadow and his...Dark _Presence_ at bay. I'll contact Knuckles and the Chaotix."

With that, the meeting was dismissed. Everyone except Sonic and Sally left the throne room.

"Well so much for peace." Sally said despairingly.

"At least I won't be bored for the next few months." Sonic cracked.

"Sonic!"

"Relax, I'm just joshing."

XXXXXXX

Amy awoke the next morning and almost instantly sensed that something wasn't right. There seemed to be an air of negativity in the atmosphere. The young flower got up out of her bed and started her morning routine. Then she went to check on Mari-An who was also up and about and nursing her son.

"Morning, Mari-An." Amy greeted.

"Good morning, Amy dear." Mari-An greeted back. "How are you this morning?"

"Well..."

The sakura hedgehog paused to think. How could she put her thoughts into words without sounding like a babbling idiot?

"Something wrong?" the reddish-orange echidna inquired.

"...I'm not sure how to say this. I might just be going nuts. I guess it's just...I have a bad feeling about something."

"About what?"

"Like...something bad's about to happen."

"Did you have any bad dreams last night?"

"Not really..."

"It must be the recent events, dear. But you needn't worry. Queen Sally is taking action. Rob'O just received a message from her last night."

"I take it the Knothole Freedom Fighters are getting fully involved?"

"Them and Sir Knuckles' Chaotix."

There was a brief silence.

"I suppose that means we're in a state of war. Again." Amy muttered.

"Not just yet. The Queen hasn't formally declared war."

"I hope they cream Shadow."

Mari-An let out a light-hearted laugh at her cousin-in-law's rant. Suddenly, there was a deep rumble which caused the ground beneath their feet to shake.

"What on Mobius is that?" Mari-An cried.

"Be right back." Amy replied.

The cherry-pink female got right up out of her chair and raced through the halls of the Mercian Castle. Already she was hearing shouts and screams from the people outside. When she went through a back door into the courtyard, all the color from her face drained. High in the sky above her and covering up the sun was the air unit of the Dark Presence invasion party.


	5. Chapter 4

**-Chapter 4-**

The Crazy Kritter Freedom Fighters-or what was left of them-hastily tried to maintain order while the citizens were in a panic. The Dark Presence had certainly caught them off guard despite warnings from New Mobotropolis. Not only there was an air invasion but there were legionnaires on foot conducting a field invasion, charging towards the villages and the castle they surrounded.

In spite of the surprise attack, the Mercian forces put up a valiant and pretty good fight against their aggressors. They managed to hold their own for a good long while, but soon enough, Dark Presence began to overwhelm them. Amy Rose herself, armed with a crossbow fought as hard as she could alongside her fellow Freedom Fighter, Bow Sparrow, even as they were running out of ammunition. A few minutes later, they were quickly surrounded by Dark Presence foot soldiers. Bow Sparrow quickly realized that if they didn't raise the white flag now, his entire troop, including Amy were dead. Rob'O would never forgive him if he allowed her to be harmed in that way.

"Men, stand down." the mobian bird ordered his troop. "Lay down your weapons."

Amy snapped her head towards him in total disbelief. She thought he was out of his mind.

"Are you crazy?!" she cried.

"Miss Rose..." Bow replied in a soft but warning tone.

Amy let out a growl and tossed her weapon to the ground along with everyone else. They all raised their arms in surrender as the Dark Presence closed in. Soon every single Mercian also surrendered once they realized that the fight was hopeless.

XXXXXXX

Unlike with his previous attacks on Acorn outposts, Shadow to take prisoners instead of simply killing everyone. If he wished to rule this planet the way he wanted to, he was going to need subjects. The outposts would just merely be examples of what should happen if one crosses him. As soon as the whole Mercian Kingdom surrounded and overrun, prison camps were formed around the castle with civilians and Dark Presence legionnaires exchanging death glares.

Both Shadow and Lein-Da entered the castle once it was made secure by their underlings. Lein-Da was a little nervous because the invasion took a little longer than she liked it to and worried that the Mercians might have alerted Queen Sally and the other Freedom Fighters in New Mobotropolis. But Shadow didn't seem the least bit concerned at all.

Meanwhile, Rob'O had Mari-An and their children secured in a safety room while he was alone in the throne room. He was worried about the cousin and was anxious to know if she was alright or hurt knowing she was out there in the field. The pine green hedgehog narrowed his eyes when he saw Shadow and Lein-Da enter.

"Is massacring innocent souls not enough for you, sirrah?" Rob'O defiantly told the crimson-splashed male.

Shadow gave him an equally defiant glare.

"You should be grateful that I'm allowing your flock to live. Even you, as I can just as easily dispose of you and put another in your place. But where would that leave your mate and children?" he hissed.

Rob'O suppressed a growl. That really struck a chord there, but exchanging insults with Shadow would get him nowhere.

"I suppose our surrender is what you want." Rob'O said, swallowing his pride.

"Complete and unconditional." Shadow replied. "And I trust that you didn't alert New Mobotropolis..."

"...No. We never got the chance. Although I don't doubt that they'll find out soon enough."

Shadow studied the king's facial features for any clues as to see if he was lying. But Rob'O didn't really have a reason to and as he pointed out, the Acorn Kingdom would find out about this transgression eventually.

"True enough." Shadow finally replied.

"May I at least continue ruling over my own people?" Rob'O asked.

"But of course. Who better to control the masses than someone they're familiar with? However from this point on, you are only a figure head."

The pine-green hedgehog frowned in dismay. But if he wanted his people to remain unharmed, it was best to heed the ebony hedgehog for now. He could only hope that the Knothole Freedom Fighters would liberate them soon. Just as Shadow and Lein-Da were taking their leave to proceed with the next phase of their plans, two legionnaires escorting Amy Rose and Bow Sparrow entered from the side hall. Rob'O was instantly relieved to see his cousin safe and sound.

"Rose!" he quietly cried. "Are you hurt?"

Amy shook her head and was also relieved to see him alright. Meanwhile, Shadow was silently glancing at her in a rather curious way. Although his features didn't betray any emotions, he was actually surprised to find the sakura hedgehog here among the Mercians. If he recalled correctly, she was originally part of the Knothole Freedom Fighters in New Mobotropolis. An odd sort of feeling came over him when he happened to noticed that in spite of the battles she had been involved with, age had been very kind to her.

"Something wrong, Shadow?" Lein-Da quietly asked.

"No, nothing." Shadow replied as his mind instantly snapped back to the matter at hand.

XXXXXXX

Later that day, the civilians were all allowed to return to their homes while the soldiers and castle guards were kept in camps as the Dark Presence began demilitarizing Mercia's forces and defenses and imputing their own. The Royal Family was kept under close guard much to Amy's dismay. Shadow and Lein-Da set up shop in the castle's communications chamber, jamming all signals so that no one would be able to contact New Mobotropolis should they be dumb enough to get ahold of or create a makeshift radio. Much to Lein-Da's distaste, there wasn't much in technology around and had half of mind to call Mercia absolutely primitive.

Shadow on the other hand was finding himself very much distracted while trying to focus. Something that really put him off because he'd never been distracted by anything in this way before. His mind was on the cherry-pink female. His first thought was that she could have very valuable information pertaining to New Mobotropolis or even the Knothole Freedom Fighters. But then again, she may not. After all how long has she been here, and if for a while it would be long enough for them to change important things. So whatever information she may or may not have could very well be outdated. The one thing he was really uncomfortable with was the fact he found himself drawn to her. He sort of always was since the ARK incident but not like this. Amy had reminded him more of his beloved Maria than she ever had before. He growled in frustration. He didn't have time for this. That damned female was indirectly interfering with his planning for world conquest.

A few minutes later, Lein-Da came over to him with an electronic tablet.

"Well my lord, I can say this invasion went better than we expected." she said.

"Indeed." Shadow quietly replied.

"I'm actually surprised that they surrendered as quickly as they did."

"They arguably made the better choice. Especially their king. I would've just as easily killed him if he gave me the slightest excuse to."

Lein-Da emitted a cruel chuckle.

"So then, what's our next move?" she asked.

"We cement our hold here. Then you and I shall return to the compound afterward and face another territory head on." the ultimate lifeform replied.

"Will it be Station Square? We never did go after it."

"In due course. We'll have to eventually and quickly lest our enemies take advantage of it."

"Very true, my Lord."

xxxxxxx

Meanwhile, in a deeper part of the castle, and in intertwined living quarters, Rob'O and the rest of his family were trying to settle in for the night. Amy was having a hard time accepting the fact that they were in a sense hostages and her homeland invaded and conquered by yet another mad man. She was so infuriated by this fact that she was biting at the nail to kick Shadow's ass. However, Rob'O managed to keep everyone close and safe. At least that should count for something.

"So...what are we going to do now, Rob?" Amy asked her cousin.

"We'll just have to accept Shadow's rule for now." Rob'O replied softly. "But don't let your fears get the best of you. I'm quite certain Queen Sally and Sonic will come to our aide."

Amy's face sort of fell after hearing that.

' _That is if she even knows about us..._ '

XXXXXXX

Despite the young flower's misgivings, Shadow's onslaught on Mercia did not go unnoticed. A few hours after the incident, Sally's good friend, NICOLE noticed something was awry when Mercia failed to respond to a routine check-in on the message board. When the electronic lynx attempted to contact the area herself, she was suddenly met with static and found the connection being jammed. She quickly brought this to the auburn squirrel's attention.

"Sally? May I come in?" NICOLE asked politely as she knocked on her friend's door.

"Of course, NICOLE." Sally replied.

The dark brown furred, female meekly entered Sally's chambers while she was looking over a few papers at her desk.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." NICOLE said. "But it's really important."

"Not at all." Sally replied. "I think I'd like to hear it anyway."

"It's really bad news. I've lost all contact with Mercia."

The queen's face fell.

"Are you...are you sure, NICOLE?" she asked.

"Right now I'm positive. I've spent the last 6 hours trying to contact King Rob'O the Hedge but any signals and connections keep getting jammed." the electronic lynx replied.

There was a long pause.

"You don't suppose that Shadow the Hedgehog and the Dark Presence might be involved do you?" NICOLE inquired rather timidly.

"I certainly hope not, but given the recent circumstances, it's a possibility." Sally replied.

"Where should we go from here?"

"Keep trying to contact Rob'O. In the meantime, I'll send our Stealth Fighters to Mercia to see if indeed if we have a serious problem on our hands. And quickly so we don't lose any more innocent people."

"As you wish."

XXXXXXX

A few hours later, Sally deployed her Stealth Fighters, each selected from members of the Royal Army to investigate the status of Mercia. NICOLE was still having difficulties of just trying to get ahold of anybody there let alone the king.

The forests surrounding Snottingham were still and ominously quiet. There was definitely something off as by now, the forest should be teaming with life. But there seem to be any sign of it anywhere at all. Suddenly, in spite of all their training and skill in not being seen, the Stealth Fighters were fired upon by hidden Dark Presence legionnaires.

"SCATTER!" the Stealth Commander shouted to his team.

The Fighters each ran for cover and scrambled to get their own weapons out so they could return fire. A long fire fight then ensued between them.

"YOU ARE IN DARK PRESENCE TERRITORY!" bellowed one of the legionnaires. "SURRENDER OR BE DESTROYED!"

That command alone gave all the information that the Stealth Fighters needed and they opted to fall back. With no back up unit, it wasn't like they could do anything effective at this point.

xxxxxxx

Shadow was quickly alerted about Acorn's forces' presence in Mercia as soon as they made their hasty exit. Lein-Da was not happy to hear this news and started to panic.

"AND YOU LET THEM ESCAPE?!" she shrieked. "YOU FOOLS!"

"Commissar..." Shadow said in a voice loud enough for her to hear. "This is nothing we need to worry about."

"But my lord, what if that wretched queen bring her whole army here?!"

"It does not matter. At this point, we have a higher advantage. Have you forgotten that we have a whole nation of hostages?"

Lein-Da suppressed a frustrated growl. The ebony hedgehog was right of course. But she couldn't escape the feeling of having months even years of planning for successful conquest just to have it all go down the drain.

"So how shall we proceed at this point, sir?" she asked.

Shadow made a pause to think and reflect on his options.

"Let us wait and see what action Acorn plans to take." the crimson-splashed male said. "I surmise that we will be contacted by her first along with a string of demands."

He got up from his chair and left the communications room. As he passed through the halls of the castle, Shadow noticed Amy again. The young flower along with her first cousin-once removed, Lil' Jon being escorted from the dining hall by two legionnaires. In spite of wanting to use this opportunity to knock out the guards and try to raise an insurgency, Amy continued to dutifully follow her cousin's orders and not raise any unneeded aggression. After all, Rob'O was still the king. Shadow meanwhile, followed her every move. He wasn't certain if he was suspicious of her because of her past affiliation with the Knothole Freedom Fighters or if he just wanted to watch her.

Finally, Amy and Lil' Jon disappeared when they turned the corner around the hall. Shadow held in growl and returned to the task he meant to do before he found himself interrupted. This was the second time he got distracted by that infernal sakura hedgehog. Even worse, the midnight warrior started to be plagued by memories of Maria.

XXXXXXX

The Stealth Fighters managed to return to New Mobotropolis with no worse for wear. They confirmed Queen Sally's worst fears that Mercia was invaded and taken over by the Dark Presence. Since it was a pretty big territory, it was a huge loss for the Kingdom of Acorn.

"Did you at least manage to find out what became of King Rob'O the Hedge and his family?" Sally persistently questioned.

"Unfortunately, we did not, you're majesty." the commander told her. "We were only able to get as far as 20 feet into the forests."

The situation with the Dark Presence was only getting worse and worse by the day. The auburn squirrel certainly had her work cut out for her and could no longer stand idly by and allow Shadow to do as he pleased. Shortly after the debriefing with the Stealth Fighters, Sally assembled her old team in the throne room.

"So what's up, Sal?" Sonic had asked.

Sally took a moment to collect her thoughts and think of what she had to say.

"I have some really bad news." she said. "And at the end of the day, we may find ourselves at war again."

While shocked expressions came over the Freedom Fighters, Sonic narrowed his emerald eyes.

"Lemme guess. Big bad Shads strikes again?" he asked.

"That's putting it rather mildly, Sonic." the queen replied. "A few days ago, we lost contact with Mercia. And only now I'm able to confirm without a doubt that the Dark Presence has taken it."

"Well that's just great. Tell me again how the fuck this is guy is two steps ahead of us?!"

"Will you calm down?! This is no time to act irrationally."

"How should we respond?" Rotor asked. "Should we counter-invade, Mercia?"

"We zhould." Antoine added. "What they've done ees an act of war!"

"You're right, Antoine. It is an act of war." Sally replied. "That's why I'm going to send a communication directly to Shadow, give him 18 hours to respond. Otherwise, we're going to war with him."

"Why wait?" Sonic ranted. "I'd like to kick his ass right about now."

"Because I would very much like _not_ to meaningless throw away lives if I can help it."

"Well...when you put it that way..."

"We're gonna be able to rescue ev'ry body in Mercia aren't we, Sally gal?" Bunnie asked.

"Of course. By any means necessary."


	6. Chapter 5

**=Chapter 5=**

News of Mercia's fall to the Dark Presence quickly spread like wildfire across the Kingdom of Acorn. Angel Island was especially on high alert in case Shadow and his forces tried to gain access to the Master Emerald.

Knuckles and his Chaotix Team all surrounded the colossal gem as it remained perched on its base, watching the sun disappear in the horizon of the mainland.

"So let me get this straight." Vector said. "Shadow's gone all rogue and seriously thinks he's gonna pull an Eggman by doin' the whole world domination shtick?"

"Seems that way." Espio replied.

"I still can't believe Lein-Da hasn't given up on that endeavor, when she's failed multiple times." Julie-Su murmured.

"I don't know, 'Su. She seems to be giving us the run for our money." Vector replied. "As of late anyway."

"That's only because she's allied herself with another psychopath."

"And to think, he was a hero a couple of years ago. What a croc of shit!"

Knuckles wasn't saying much as his team mates went back and forth on their chatter. Neither was Mighty or Ray, although Ray was getting nervous just hearing them.

"Y-you don't think S-shadow can get to the M-master Emerald, c-can he?" the squirrel stammered.

"Don't be a worry wort, Ray." Vector told him. "Of course Shadow won't be able to get to the Master Emerald. He's got to get through us first. Oh, and Knuckles."

The ruby echidna just nodded and retained his usual stoic expression, keeping his arms folded.

"All comments aside, I do hope Amy is alright." Julie-Su said in a low voice.

"Yes." Knuckles finally said. "I really hate to say this, but she's probably getting the worst of it, because she's a former Freedom Fighter."

"She couldn't possibly give Shadow much information, even if she did so willingly. By now, they most likely changed things in New Mobotropolis." Julie-Su added.

"Gotta point there." Vector replied.

The rest of the Chaotix fell silent as the sun in the horizon finally disappeared and the moon taking its place.

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile in Mercia, the countryside's population were trying to keep their chins up in spite of their current plight. Thankfully, no one seemed to be under any particular hardship as long as everyone followed curfew and didn't give the Dark Presence a reason to be suspicious of their activities. They all held onto the hope that the Kingdom of Acorn would soon come to their aide before Shadow decided to cause them bodily harm as a threat or just because he felt like it. The crimson-splashed male himself was bestowed with a message from the Queen of New Mobotropolis.

"My Lord, Queen Sally Acorn deployed a communication." a legionnaire had told him.

Lein-Da, standing beside the midnight warrior smirked.

"Well, that didn't take too long." she purred.

"Put it on the main viewer." Shadow order, almost not paying any attention to his second-in-command.

The legionnaire activated the largest monitor in the communication room and a few seconds later, Queen Sally's face appeared on the screen.

"Shadow the Hedgehog..." she began tactfully. "You are in violation of many peace agreements and treaties. You are to respond within 48 hours or I shall have no choice but to declare a war."

Shadow slightly narrowed his blood-red eyes, showing almost no emotion at all to this threat. Lein-Da on the other hand let out a scoff.

"I'd very much like to see her try." the leather clad echidna sneered. "I suppose this means the games begin, doesn't it?"

"Hmph, at least now I have a worthier challenge." the ebony hedgehog replied staunchly. "There will be a change of plans from here on out, Commissar."

Lein-Da's eyes widened in surprise.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"In a few days' time, I'll be returning to the Compound and leave you in charge of things here." Shadow explained.

"Are you quite certain, my lord?"

"Yes. If Acorn intends to make war, I'm going to need to shift my focus on mobilizing and deploying our troops. You won't have much difficulty keeping things in line here, I trust?"

"Of course not, my lord. I won't fail you."

"Good."

XXXXXXX

The two days had passed without any word from Mercia to New Mobotropolis. Rob'O of course was told or made aware of Queen Sally's message but even so, he had some suspicions. When a stricter curfew was put into place on pain of death, he knew something must have happened. Another war was indeed inevitable at this point. Amy on the other hand, was growing increasingly frustrated with all the corporal rules and punishments.

"I'm really tired of all this, Rob." she growled quietly so that the guards outside the room they were in would not hear. "It's total bullshit. Not to mention cruel."

"I know dear cousin, but be as patient as you can. I believe our liberation is nigh." the pine green hedgehog told her.

Amy blinked in surprise.

"You...you mean Sally's sending help?" the young flower rasped.

"Not quite, but judging from the Dark Presence' behavior as of late, I surmise that the Queen is aware of our plight."

"I would hope so."

A few hours later, Rob'O and Amy went out into the castle walls for a walk, allowing Mari-An and her infant to rest and leaving Lil' John to watch over them. Amy longingly looked outside the windows as she and the rest of the family were mostly confined inside the castle since the clampdown on curfew. She hadn't seen or felt the warmth of the sun or smelled fresh air for days. When they were in the gallery, Rob'O sensed that they were not alone. Of course there were countless Dark Legionnaire guards around them, but this was different. From the corner of his eyes, he caught Shadow spying them. As Rob'O closely observed, the midnight warrior wasn't really focusing on himself specifically. Shadow had his eye on Amy. Again. Rob'O stiffened, very much not liking the way he was gawking at her. Almost in a longing way and not calculating. The royal male promptly wrapped an arm around his cousin's shoulders and held her protectively closer.

"...Rob?" Amy asked, a little confused.

"It's alright, dear one."

Shadow narrowed his eyes watching them. A few moments later, he silently left the area.

XXXXXXX

As night fell, Sonic and Sally were spending the evening alone together when NICOLE came to report the status of the situation in Mercia.

"Sorry Sally, but it doesn't look so good." the electronic lynx said. "It's been more than 48 hours and we still don't have any word from Shadow or any Dark Presence representative."

The auburn squirrel made a rather disappointed face.

"Looks like the waiting game is over here, Sal." Sonic commented.

"Unfortunately it is." she sighed. "Tomorrow morning at the earliest, you and the rest of the team are to deploy troops to our surviving outposts and close the borders."

"What are you going to do?"

"NICOLE and I are going to deliver a message of a declaration of war to the entire kingdoms and territories."

"Hmph, good thing I'm not taking the diplomacy route..."

"Sonic..."

"Relax, I'm only kidding around."

xxxxxxx

The next morning, troops of the Royal Army poured out of New Mobotropolis being led by the Freedom Fighters. In other parts of the Kingdom of Acorn, the regions' own cells of Freedom Fighters rallied to fight the Dark Presence.

Shadow wasn't the least bit worried as he was convinced that there was no strength in numbers. And with most of the Outposts destroyed, it would be difficult for the Acorn foot soldiers to camp out. His plan now was to scatter the Dark Presence so that all fronts would be covered.

Presently, he was cementing an iron fist rule in Mercia so that when he left it in Lein-Da's hands, the population wouldn't be tempted to rebel.

The mood in the countryside kingdom was getting increasingly anxious and somewhat paranoid. Citizens were fearing for their physical well-being and others were contemplating raising an insurrection with or without the Crazy Kritter Freedom Fighters' assistance. But doing such a thing at this point was not possible. Not with so many legionnaires spying their every move. And if there was one thing they all could agree on was the fact that it wasn't healthy to trifle with someone as brutal as Shadow.

Meanwhile, Rob'O was itching to have the ebony hedgehog leave Mercia. Because by a technicality that he was still the reigning monarch, Rob'O was shortly briefed that the Commissar would be taking over Shadow's position while he was away. The pine green hedgehog was especially not liking the fact that Shadow was somewhat stalking his cousin and the sooner the midnight warrior left, the better.

Then as the tension built and built, the fighting broke out.

On the outskirts of Mercia, the Dark Presence engaged upon Acorn troops. As Shadow predicted, despite the larger numbers of Acorn soldiers, the Dark Presence held their own against them. Their tact was equally matched against Acorn's army. The Knothole Freedom Fighters themselves could barely make a dent in their defenses. Citizens in Mercia's capital became evermore restless. Some wanted to valiantly join in the fight against their aggressors while others wouldn't dare risking their lives.

At the end of the week, the battles reached a stalemate with neither side able to claim any sort of victory. However, the fact that the Dark Presence was able to keep Acorn's forces at bay was enough to convince him to move back to the compound to further his plans, and leave Mercia in Lein-Da's hands.

Late one evening, the duo was back in the Communications Room looking over a holographic map of Mobius.

"Well, we may not have had a full victory, but it's a start." Lein-Da commented. "Wouldn't you agree, Shadow?"

At first, the crimson-splashed male did not answer. He was very deep in thought.

"Commissar, be sure to keep up the men's morale." he told her.

"Of course."

"I won't be away for very long, but I expect you to keep everything under control until I return."

"Understood."

"I'm going to depart before sunrise tomorrow so at this moment, you're in charge of the legion, Commissar."

Lein-Da saluted him before noticing that he made another pause.

"Is there anything else, sir?" the leather clad echidna asked.

"Yes. Send in the King. I'd like to have a word with him."

Lein-Da smirked cruelly. Even though she had no idea what Shadow planned to do with him or talk to him about, but it would be rather enjoyable to watch.

"As you wish."

XXXXXXX

Despite protests from his family, Rob'O complied with the Ultimate Lifeform's request to speak with him privately. His wife and cousin were especially worried that Shadow might do something bad to him, perhaps possibly kill him just to get him out of the way. But as the king pointed out, it would be just as dangerous to refuse his request.

Rob'O entered the Throne Room and tried not to be bothered by the fact that Shadow was sitting in the throne, brooding.

"You sent for me?" Rob'O asked.

"...Yes. I'd like to inform you about a slight alteration in my plans" the ebony hedgehog replied.

The semi-deposed king gave a puzzled look. For a moment he had hoped that he had changed his mind about Lein-Da taking over for him.

"I am taking a member of your Freedom Fighter group along with me." Shadow told him simply.

Rob'O's eyes widened in surprise and shock, but retained his cool.

"Who?" he calmly and civilly asked. "And for what purpose?"

The crimson-splashed male paused for a moment as if he were contemplating something.

"Both explanations are of no concern to you." he said.

As both hedgehogs locked glares, Rob'O suddenly realized who he was referring to without betraying any emotion.

"This is just a courtesy call." Shadow continued.

"...I...I see." Rob'O replied. "Well, if that is all, I trust you'll bring him back to us safe and well."

"Perhaps." the midnight warrior said. "...or perhaps not at all."

A cold hard lump formed in the pit of the former king's stomach as his mind began quickly formulating a plan.

"Very well then. Now if you will pardon me, I would like to return to my family."

After making a gesture signaling him that he was excused, Shadow narrowed his blood-red eyes as he watched Rob'O leave.

xxxxxxx

Shortly after his meeting with Shadow, Rob'O managed to get word out to three of his Crazy Kritter Freedom Fighters and they met within a secret passage in the castle.

"What is it, sire?" Bow Sparrow inquired.

"To begin with, no one is to know about this and strictly no one. Not. A. Soul." Rob'O said.

"We understand..." Friar Buck replied.


	7. Chapter 6

**-Chapter 6-**

Amy was sound asleep in her room when she heard her door open and quietly shut. She stirred in her slumber and woke with a start when she saw someone lurking about in her quarters. The sakura hedgehog nearly let out a cry but a hand shot out and clamped around her muzzle.

The hand turned out to belong to Bow Sparrow and he quickly made a gesture telling her to remain quiet.

"Come, quickly!" he whispered.

The feathered mobian gently pulled her out of bed and led her towards another secret passage that led directly out of the Castle grounds. Amy was flabbergasted.

"Huh?! How long has _that_ been there?!" Amy quietly cried.

"Hush, Rose." Bow told her in a very low voice.

He took her by the hand and led her through the passage as quickly as possible. Amy was greatly confused about what the heck was going on. At the end of the passage, they were met by Friar Buck and Alan Quail. Friar Buck had a satchel filled with basic needs and rations and another with a few days' worth of clothes.

"Um guys, what are we doing here?" Amy asked.

"There's no time to explain, lass." Friar Buck told her. "We must get you safely out of Mercia before dawn."

Amy blinked confusingly as they led her towards the forest. Friar Buck parted from their company and wished them luck. Before entering the forest, the two males took the time to put on camouflage paint on themselves and made Amy do the same.

The forest was dark and one could barely navigate through it at night. But they dared not use any source of light, lest they be discovered by the Dark Presence. Finally, they came to a meadow where there was a clearing. Bow Sparrow and Alan Quail led Amy as far as they could before they eventually had to stop.

"Alright, lassie..." Bow Sparrow began. "You'll have to go on from here without us."

"What?! Why?!" Amy cried. "What's going on?"

"The King impressed upon us that you might be in danger." Alan Quail told her.

"What do you mean?"

"He told us that Shadow informed him that he was taking one of the Freedom Fighters with him when he leaves."

An expression of shock and disbelief came over the cherry-pink female's features.

"...and he thinks it's _me_?!" she rasped.

"He wasn't sure, but he was not about to take that risk."

"Go on and stay safe." Bow Sparrow added.

Amy's heart was now pounding. She almost felt herself starting to cry.

"Keep your chin up, Rose." Bow Sparrow told her with a gentle grin. "You'll need it to get to New Mobotropolis."

There was a long pause as Amy took the situation in.

"...right." she sighed.

"Go on now, and good luck." Alan Quail said.

"W...wait, what'll happen to you guys? If Shadow finds out..."

"You let us worry about that, lass." Bow reassured her. "Now quickly, the night is waning."

With great hesitation, Amy embarked on her perilous journey.

XXXXXXX

In a camp near the outskirts of Mercia, Acorn soldiers were stationed there and waiting for General Antione D'Coolette to return from a sting operation inspecting the enemy defenses. Bunnie, his wife, was in charge of the ranks while he was gone. Everything was still and quite as the sun rose, giving a rather eerie feeling.

"It feels like a graveyard here." one soldier commented.

"It does, doesn't it?" Bunnie replied softly.

Another soldier had his binoculars out, scoping the area for any sign of life. Then a lone figure appeared in the horizon.

"I see something!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Bunnie asked.

"...It's the General!"

Sprinting towards the camp, was Antione, trying to remain low to avoid being fired upon by the enemy. A few moments later, the royal General made it to the safety zone.

"Eet's worse zan we thought." he rasped, catching his breath. "I don't know where on Mobius zat Shadow was able to build up such an army."

"It can't be that bad." said one soldier. "We're better supplied then they are."

"It don't matter." Bunnie replied in a low voice. "We can't underestimate Shadow. He's got all them legionnaires under his thumb and they're fightin' serious and packin' a lotta heat."

"Oui. We must inform ze Queen of these developments." Antione added. "We're going to need a lot more help."

xxxxxxx

In the outskirts of New Mobotropolis, Sonic and Tails were manning a watch tower there. Tails was making blue prints for heavy artillery and other gadgets that Rotor had sent him while Sonic was impatiently pacing back and forth.

"How long are you gonna keep doing that?" the kitsune sighed.

"I'm bored, okay? I wish Sal would let me run all the way to Mercia and kick Shadow's ass already." Sonic replied impatiently.

"I'm pretty sure she has a good reason for putting you in charge of the Freedom Fighters along with me."

"Yeah, yeah..."

There was a tap on the door and an Acorn soldier stepped in.

"Excuse me sire, but this message just came in from General D'Coolette." he said.

"Thanks." Sonic said, taking the envelope from him.

The cobalt hedgehog opened it and read the printed page.

"Eeesh, man is Shadow definitely _not_ fucking around." he said. "He's got massive amounts of mooks doing his dirty work around Mobius."

"Like Eggman, only worse." Tails commented somberly.

"Yeah, yeah. Well just like Eggman, we're gonna beat the shit out of Shadow."

"That's something I could hope for."

XXXXXXX

In the deep forests outlining the region where Mercia laid, Amy Rose trudged endlessly amongst the foliage trying to accurately follow the compass in her hand. She could already feel that in spite of having it, she was hopelessly lost. She didn't even know which part of Mobius she was even in by now. But the sakura hedgehog couldn't stop until she reached New Mobotropolis. By now, Shadow must have learned that she was missing.

That was the one thing she couldn't wrap her mind around. Why the hell did Shadow want her in the first place? It had to be her he wanted to take prisoner because then Rob'O wouldn't have gone through the trouble of smuggling her out of Mercia. The cherry-pink female let out a sigh and tried looking for some cover. Her stomach was growling and she didn't want to eat out in the open. Amy quickly found a cave near a waterfall. Shivering from the cold air, Amy took apart the pack she was given before she left and saw she had a week's worth of rations.

 _'Looks like I'm going to have hunt for my food eventually.'_ she thought.

Going further, she suddenly came across something that took her by surprise. It was her old communicator when she was with the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Amy could use it to alert Sally and the rest of the gang. But she would need to get out of the jamming grid formed by the Dark Presence first.

 _'Thanks, Rob...'_

xxxxxxx

As Amy feared and expected, it didn't take long for Shadow to discover that she was no longer amongst the Mercians.

Mari-An was the first to realize her cousin-in-law's absence when she discovered her room to be empty that morning. Alarmed, she quickly alerted her husband who was just getting up for the day. Although the pine green hedgehog knew full well that Amy was gone, he went on with an act, pretending not know of Amy's whereabouts either. After searching high and low through their castle with no luck, Rob'O went stomping to the first Dark Presence legionnaire he found, and breathlessly demanding what had been done to poor Rose.

The legionnaire in turn was alarmed at the prospect that one of their 'prisoners' had escaped and immediately informed Shadow.

Shadow was extremely annoyed and irritated that somehow, Amy managed to break away from their hold at some point during the night. His first suspicion was that Rob'O might have something to do with it. But after hearing from his underlings about the Mercian king erratic behavior, the midnight warrior had to think.

 _'Either he really had nothing to do with her disappearance, or he's rather a good actor. Perhaps we can put that to the test.'_

"Tighten security around the boarders." Shadow calmly told his legionnaires. "I'll have to assemble a search and retrieve team a little later."

Lein-Da was amazed at how calm the ebony hedgehog was at this turn of events. She also was surprised that his 'search and retrieve' mission, wasn't a 'search and destroy' mission. However, if he wasn't worried about this trifle, then neither should she. Rob'O on the other hand went straight to Shadow, despite a few Dark Presence legionnaires trying to hold him back.

"You..." he growled while glaring at the crimson-splashed male. "What have you done with Rose?!"

"Nothing...yet." Shadow simply replied, looking as if he were about to shrug his shoulders. He was also closely examining the King for any falter in facial features or emotions that would betray him.

"Bullocks! I wager that this is some sick extortion you have wrought to force me to give you more control!"

"You haven't crossed me that much to warrant that, that much I'll admit. However, _your majesty_..."

The pine green hedgehog inwardly cringed on how the charcoal furred hedgehog put emphasis on the words, 'your majesty'.

"...you needn't worry about this matter. By the time I've left, I'll be having a few of my underlings scouring the area for your lost lamb. Just hope and pray that I decide to bring her back to you at all if she's found."

Rob'O narrowed his eyes as the two locked glares in the same way as they did the day before. Although he still fought not to give himself away, he was also holding in the urge to attack Shadow. And while he managed to help mostly everyone that mattered to escape retribution for their act, it didn't change the fact that Amy was still very much in danger. What made it all the more worse was that the King wouldn't be able to help in any way shape or form. Especially after Shadow tightened security.

 _'Gods be with you, dear Rose...'_

XXXXXXX

Amy awoke in the cave after taking a brief nap. The early morning's excursion left her exhausted. She knew she would have to move quickly if the young flower wanted to evade detection from Shadow's forces. She gathered her belongings and moved out. Carefully looking around Amy cautiously continued her journey through the forest. She was already missing her family and wondered what her former team mates would say when they found her wandering around. She knew Knuckles and Julie-Su would accept her back into the fold, but trying to explain everything to Sonic probably wouldn't be so easy. Little did she know that Rob'O hid a prerecorded message within her communicator that would be sent directly to Queen Sally the moment Amy activated it that would inform her of the situation. He couldn't take the risk of putting it on paper because heaven forbid if Amy was found by Shadow, then he would know that her cousin had a hand in her escape.

Amy could hear birds above her and the wind blowing through the trees. Apart from that, the forest around her was quiet. Very quiet.

* * *

 **AN: I apologize if this appears to be short. I am trying to make the chapters longer. Which is kinda hard when you're also trying to conserve paper :P**


	8. Chapter 7

**-Chapter 7-**

It had been a full 2 weeks since Amy Rose managed to escape Mercia and into the wilderness. In spite of that, the Dark Presence was hot on her trail. Twice, the cherry-pink female narrowly evaded detection from them. The most recent time, she had to cover her mouth so that they wouldn't hear her breathing. But they were everywhere, which made Amy's journey much more difficult.

The compass she had on her was proving to be more worthless tan she thought possible. In one moment of annoyed furry, Amy flung it into the creek she came across a few afternoons ago. The young flower resolved to use the stars to find her way back to New Mobotropolis.

Shadow had to commend her for her evasiveness as it was impressive as it was annoying. Still, he grilled the Dark Presence to double their efforts in locating her. After two fruitless weeks, he was beginning to seriously consider in personally taking part in the search himself.

XXXXXX

Amy curled her whole body underneath a crevice of rocks and kept as dead silent as she could while legionnaires crawled around the surface. She had the misfortune of coming across their camp and the noises she made while trying to get away alerted them. Amy quickly hid her travel bag under a tree while she darted under the rocks. She could hear them chatter as they searched for the source of the noises they heard. If they had sharp hearing, the legionnaires could hear the sakura hedgehog's heart pounding. She prayed like hell that they didn't have really accurate radars that could hone in on all signs of life. As the Dark Presence drew in closer, Amy shut her eyes. Finally, one legionnaire told the others that they were ordered back to their camp and they made a hasty exit.

When Amy was certain they were gone, she let out a sigh relief. That was almost way too close. If those guys searched any further, there would've been no doubt that she would've been found. The cherry-pink female had to find and make her way to New Mobotropolis as quickly as possible or next time she might not be so lucky.

XXXXXX

Shadow was sitting in the computer lab that was located in his Station Square compound. Or rather, the compound located in the outskirts of the abandoned metropolis. He was attempting to hack into the older Freedom Fighter files from the Kingdom Acorn network just to see if could find anything at all. Since she managed to evade capture for this long, perhaps there would be some record of training that he could look into and make an analysis of her skills. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one trying his patience at the moment. Tails and Rotor had done their damnedest to make sure the security on the Acorn network was foolproof.

But no computer online network was going to make a patsy out of Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Lifeform.

Finally, after a good 30 minutes, the crimson-splashed male found his way in. He'd have to be quick however, before his presence was detected in the network and his access denied.

To his further disappointed, there wasn't much he could find in the way of useful information. But it was to be expected. Her own last log in date was quite a while ago and there were significant changes to the network since then. And given the limited technology in Mercia, there wasn't much of a chance that Amy would have access to it.

With a heavy sigh, Shadow logged off well before the system detected his unauthorized presence. So much for that.

Then a legionnaire came into the lab with a report in his hand.

"Sir, this just came in..." he began, handing Shadow the report.

The ebony hedgehog's ruby orbs scanned through the printed pages, his face slightly contorting with concentration.

"These are Freedom Fighters from Downunda, are they not?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." the legionnaire replied.

"They're certainly a long way from home. Interesting, and odd."

"Shall we do something about them, sir?"

Shadow briefly went deep into thought.

"Not now. But should you encounter them, capture them. If they interfere with our plans...eliminate them."

XXXXXX

Amy couldn't remember the last time she stopped to rest her aching feet. It seemed like she was walking for hours. Worse still, the sakura hedgehog was beginning to run short on rations. If she didn't arrive at New Mobotropolis soon, Amy would have to start hunting and gathering for food.

' _Thank goodness Rob reinforced my knowledge on how to make weapons out of wood and rocks...'n stuff_.' she thought.

Suddenly, the scent of burning wood made her nose twitch.

"Is there another camp nearby?" Amy asked herself aloud.

The cherry-pink female cautiously followed the scent until she saw smoke rising from within the trees. Her heart started pounding against her rib cage. She barely managed to elude the Dark Presence previously, and now it appeared that she has run into them again. Just how many of these guys were there?

Then, to Amy's surprise, the camp turned out to not to belong to the Dark Presence, but to a very different group altogether.

It was the Freedom Fighters from Downunda. Amy had heard of them from Tails and the Chaotix, but she never met them personally. She wondered why they were here, and so far away from home. The young flower curiously approached them. But because it had gotten dark out, it was hard to see in front of her. Eventually, Amy tripped on a rock and fell over, causing the Downunda Freedom Fighters to jump from all the commotion she made.

"Who's there?!" Barby Koala cried.

"Wait! It's okay! I'm a friend!" Amy quickly cried out.

Barby and two of her team mates approached the young flower cautiously but didn't take long to conclude that she most likely wasn't suspicious.

"She don't look like one of them Dark Presence folks, mates." said Wombat Stu.

"Well, I'm not." Amy replied dutifully. "And I'm kinda on the run from them."

Barby extended her hand and helped Amy to her feet, dusting all the dirt off of her clothes.

"Why don't you tell us your story then, sheila." Walt Wallaby told her.

Amy joined them to their campfire and told them her long tale of woe.

"That's awful." Barby commented.

"Makes that Shadow dude all the more shallow." Guru Emu muttered rather distastefully.

"So how come you guys are all the way out here?" the sakura hedgehog inquired.

Instantaneously, worried and almost guilt ridden expressions came across their faces.

"Well, to begin with, our comrade, Bill accompanied Thrash here not too long ago." Barby explained. "But we lost contact with them out of the blue a few days ago."

"...and you're trying to look for them." Amy murmured sympathetically.

"Yeah. But thus far, we hadn't had much luck." Stu said.

Amy went deep into thought.

"Maybe I can help." she said softly.

"But I thought you were trying to get to New Mobotropolis." Walt said.

"Yes, but your needs are way more important than my own. And it wouldn't feel right just leaving you guys here."

"And you wouldn't fare much on your own either." Barby added.

"As soon as we find Bill and Thrash, we could all go to New Mobotropolis." Guru suggested.

Everyone around the fire was in agreement and Amy was quite relieved to be in some familiar and friendly company at last.

XXXXXX

Three days later, with no luck in locating the elusive cherry-pink female, a frustrated Shadow decided to personally helm the search himself. Everything else however seemed to be going in his favor. What should have been a mere trifle was beginning to become a thorn in his side. By now, the crimson-splashed male was thoroughly impressed that she managed to elude capture for this long, but it would be really bad if she actually found her way to New Mobotropolis. Not that they could do much about the situation anyway, but obtaining the young flower after that would prove very difficult

His thoughts were interrupted when one of his underlings messaged him.

"Sir, this is Blue Leader reporting in. Over."

"You are late, Blue Leader." Shadow replied, rather annoyed.

"Apologies, my lord. But we have had a situation here. Over.

Shadow arched a brow at his message.

"Explain." he ordered.

"We encountered some resistance which has been addressed."

"Hold your position. I shall be there shortly."

"Understood, sir."

A few minutes later, the midnight warrior assembled a small entourage and took an armored jeep to the area where this alleged incident occurred. It wasn't far which was some cause for concern. Being this close to executing his plans for Station Square, Shadow didn't won't anything to go wrong at this point.

When he and his entourage arrived, there was a foot-long blackened crater in the ground and the remains of two bodies covered with a tarp.

"Report." Shadow commanded.

"We had an ambush by two Freedom Fighters." said one legionnaire.

"Freedom Fighters?"

"Well, they _claimed_ to be Freedom Fighters. But they didn't seem to match any of the visual descriptions that you supplied us, sir. We're running their names through a database now."

Shadow let his mind relax a little. But if any of them happened to be Rose, the entire Blue team would be lying dead in less than a second. He approached the tarp and lifted it. The remains were badly charred and almost unrecognizable.

"They were both male, sir." the legionnaire continued, giving Shadow more relief. "One was a Tasmanian devil."

"Does that matter?" Shadow asked pointedly.

"Not many devils have intelligence, sir."

Shadow still didn't see the significance, nor did he really care. He dropped the tarp and began heading towards his jeep.

"Continue with your investigation." the ebony hedgehog ordered. "Report if anything comes up."

"Yes, sir."

Just as Shadow was entering the vehicle, he noticed that a member of his entourage was listening intently into his codec.

"Sir, the Principal had been sighted."

Shadow's face suddenly snapped towards him, his mind now swelling with eager interest.

"Where?!" he demanded.

"About 40 miles from here. There also appears to be more subjects."

"Inform the Dark Presence stationed there not to lose visual of the Principal. They can do as they please with the others, but I fully expect the Principal alive and unharmed when I arrive."

"Taking over the operation, sir?"

"Yes. I cannot afford to lose another opportunity."

XXXXXX

Amy and the Downunda Freedom Fighters trekked through the forest when thunder lightly rumbled in the distance.

"Looks like a storm's ready to hit." Stu observed.

Barby let out a groan.

"Lovely, we're going to have a devil of a time looking for shelter." she whined.

Amy couldn't blame her. They were virtually surrounded by trees. Finding cover was going to be a real pain. Suddenly, Walt froze as a foreign scent went through his nose.

"Hold it!" he rasped. "...anyone else smell that?"

Amy deeply inhaled and suddenly found it.

"Burning plasma..." she breathed.

"Someone's been havin' a fire fight." Stu replied.

The color in Amy's face drained. That could only mean that the Dark Presence were nearby, or at least in the area. Although she had company now, it was cold comfort. Shadow and his underlings could just as easily barrel right through them.

"Be cautious, mates." Walt warned. "Be prepared for anything."

Amy's head was starting spinning as a cold feeling came over her and settled in her gut. Somehow, she thought she was in serious trouble this time around. One thing the sakura hedgehog didn't want to admit right now was that she really felt scared. An ominous feeling came over her, telling her run with luck was over. It didn't take long for Barby to notice Amy's disposition and became concerned.

"Amy?" she called out. "Are you alright? You look pale."

Amy's head snapped up as she was suddenly brought out of her thoughts.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm...I'm fine." the cherry-pink female stammered.

The small band continued on their way when Amy was struck with another awful premonition.

' _Why do I get the feeling that we're not ever going to find Bill or Thrash?_ ' she asked herself.

She figured the sooner they arrived at New Mobotropolis or at the very least, an Acorn Outpost, the better.

The atmosphere got a little quieter as they went on their way, save for the distant thunder still rumbling in the clouded skies. The rain that Stu had forecast earlier had finally started to fall on them. It was light at first, but after a few minutes, it fell increasingly harder, effectively soaking the band to the skin. The noise of the rain disturbed the silence, and hampered their stealth skills.

Then, without warning, the group was fired upon. Laser beams and bullets went flying everywhere as the Freedom Fighters scrambled for cover.

"SCATTER!" Walt shouted.

That wasn't exactly what Amy wanted to have happen, but it was natural protocol. She didn't have any weapons on her so the young flower had no choice but to use basic hand to hand combat. Her team mates on the other hand, had improvised weapons which allowed them to hold their own against their attackers. Except of course for Guru, who keeping to his pacifist ways, simply sat near a tree in a cross-legged position and quietly meditated. Amy managed to rejoin Barby who was taking cover behind a large boulder.

"Are you alright, Amy?" Barby asked.

"I'm fine for now." Amy replied. "What can I do to help?"

"Stay low."

The Freedom Fighters continued to return fire against Dark Presence legionnaires until it became readily apparent that they were about to be overwhelmed.

"YOU'RE IN DARK PRESENCE TERRITORY! SURRENDER, OR BE ELIMINATED!"

Barby cursed under her breath as she bent down to reload her ammo.

"NOT ON YOUR BLOOMIN' LIVES!" Stu had shouted.

The saffron wombat managed to charge at a legionnaire and tackle him to the ground.

"Amy run for it." Barby told the sakura hedgehog.

Amy look at the grey furred Koala bear as if she had lost her mind.

"Are you crazy?! I can't just leave you guys here!" she cried.

"Run! If you get caught, everyone in that home town of yours might not ever be liberated."

Barby had a very good point, but Amy still felt like a coward running away from battle.

"GO!" the female Koala shouted, after eyeing the cherry-pink female's hesitation.

Flinching, Amy quickly bolted into the deeper part of the forest with panic building in her system. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her, with the sounds of weapon fire growing distant as she went further and further away, her eyesight almost blinded by the heavy rainfall. Amy slipped on the wet grass and fell into the mud. The icy cold rain hampered her efforts to get up quickly and continue running. Because she was in such a desperate rush to get away, she abandoned most of her things. The young flower then found by chance a tree with a hollow opening in its trunk. She hastily climbed into it and stayed low. It was like a small wooden cave, that went a foot and a half into the ground. Amy shivered from the cold and tried to keep her teeth from chattering. As she wrapped her arms around herself, she made quite a discovery. She still had her communicator on her.

Quickly, the sakura hedgehog whipped it out and dialed a number.

"...Hello?"

It was Sonic after a few seconds of static.

"Sonic! It's Amy! I need your help!" Amy cried.

"...Amy? What the...where the hell are you calling from?!"

"I'm stuck in the forest east of Mercia and I-"

"Wait how the hell did you get out of Mercia?"

Amy bit her lip.

"...Rob and his Freedom Fighters smuggled me out, and I've been trying to get back to New Mobotropolis since."

"Oh really?"

Amy could tell to her dismay and from the tone of the cerulean speedster's voice, that he didn't believe her.

"Sonic, for the love of God, I'm not making this up! You know I wouldn't ever leave my friends and family willingly behind while they're under the line of fire!"

"I believe you Amy, but as it stands we can't get anywhere near Mercia now, the boarders are closed. You're pretty much on your own."

Amy turned completely white.

"But...Sonic..."

"Sorry, Amy. No offense, but you should've stayed in Mercia."

There was click and then Sonic's voice was gone. Amy was in a state of total disbelief as tears began pooling in her jade orbs. She stared at her blank communicator as anger started swelling in her mind. With a cry of fury, she threw the electronic device across the small wooden cave and curled into a ball, sobbing.

' _Stupid...fucking asshole!_ '

A few moments later, there was slight sloshing and squishing noise in the ground outside. A darkened shade then fell on the tree with flashes of lightning giving it a defined shape with a blink of an eye. Amy was too wrapped up in her emotions to even notice. Then her ears twitched to the sound of footsteps coming near or into the tree. Amy shot up with a gasp and through her blurry eyesight from tears, she saw the last person she ever wanted to see.

Shadow had followed Amy through the forest after he caught sight of her when his underlings attacked the Downunda Freedom Fighters. He only lost the cherry-pink female for a brief moment and found her again after following the sounds of her muffled sobs. Amy on the other hand couldn't believe that this was happening, and yet it was inevitable. There was nowhere for her to run now, she was effectively trapped. The young flower crawled backwards until her form hit the rotted wood behind her. She frantically searched her person for some kind, any kind of weapon.

"Stay...stay away from me, you monster..." she warned with a stammer.

Shadow ignored her plea and continued his approach. Amy managed to find a small crystal dagger that her cousin gave her as a birthday present a long time ago. With a furious shriek, she attempted to at least stab the intruding crimson-splashed male so she could try and get away. But it was for naught, as Shadow caught her wrist and elbowed her in a certain spot on her abdomen, knocking the sakura hedgehog out and causing her to fall limp in his arms.


	9. Chapter 8

**-Chapter 8-**

When Amy slowly awoke from unconsciousness, the first thing she noticed was how achy she felt. And not just that, her head hurt, and her throat was sore. As her jade eyes shifted from left and right, she saw that she was in a large darkened room that almost looked like the master bedroom of a house. Perhaps it was since the sakura hedgehog next spotted a bathroom towards her left. Then she found that she was lying in a large bed. Her ears twitched to the pattering of rain against the French doors leading to a balcony, and windows.

' _Where the hell am I?_ ' she mentally asked in a haze.

Amy tried getting up and groaned from the effort. She lurched forward as a harsh cough erupted from windpipe. The cherry-pink female felt like crap. She might be running a fever, which could be logical since she was exposed to cold rain. Amy struggled to get out of bed and not get tangled up in the sheets and comforter that she was gingerly wrapped up in. But as soon as she left the shelter of the blankets, cold air instantly struck her body in spite of the fact that she was now dressed in G.U.N. sweats-which she had no idea how they got there. Shuddering and teeth chattering, Amy felt her way across the room towards the door. Fortunately, she found it to be unlocked but didn't throw caution to the wind just because it was. Peering out into the hall, Amy saw that she was on the second floor of a rather large house. It was almost castle and mansion-like but very modestly 3-stories high and appeared to be similar to a lodge from the interior. What made her feel uneasy was that she could see a few Dark Presence legionnaires patrolling downstairs. Trying to hold in another coughing jag, Amy scampered towards the opposite end of the hall to her right.

The next room she found herself in was some sort of library. Or a study, the young flower couldn't figure out which. And she really didn't care. Amy didn't know why she was even here nor why she was left in the other room to begin with. She sat near a corner and shivered. Amy was really starting to feel like hell right about now. Her whole cranium felt as if someone was taking a hammer to it. A few moments later, Amy heard footsteps coming towards the room. At this point however, she didn't care if she was caught.

As one would expect, the master of the house came walking through the halls once he discovered his prisoner turned up missing. He quickly found her in the small library. The crimson-splashed male's ears twitched to the sounds of Amy's coughing.

"I should like to know why you're up and about." he said.

At first, Amy did not answer, rather giving her captor a 'go to hell' look.

"Why don't you throw me into a cell already?" she said bitterly. "I won't be of any use to you anyway."

Shadow arched a brow.

"Oh?" he replied.

"...They've probably changed all their passwords and stuff since I've been gone, and even if they didn't, I still wouldn't help you." Amy boldly told him before coughing harshly into her fist.

Shadow stared at her pitifully before stepping forward and scooping the young flower off from the floor. Amy was a little too weakened from her flu to fight back. Her chest and ribs hurt from all the coughing she made.

"Do not make the mistake that I brought you here simply because you are a cousin to the former king of Mercia or out of the goodness of my heart." Shadow said in a low voice. "And I don't expect you to assist me in my conquest in any way shape or form."

Now Amy was very confused.

"Then...why?" she murmured in a crackling voice.

"You're under house arrest. But as far as the rest of Mobius is concerned, you're a P.O.W. and nothing more. Now you need to be back in bed and resting. I will not have you develop pneumonia."

Amy was quiet after that. It was pointless to argue with Shadow. He carried her back to the master bedroom, locking the door behind him this time. He gently laid her onto the bed and tucked her in. The rain outside continued to fall and the air grew colder. Amy let another cough and wrapped the blankets tighter around herself, moaning from the achiness in her muscles. She was almost buried in sheets.

' _I suppose I should count my blessings that I'm not actually in a cell._ ' the sakura hedgehog thought.

Shadow meanwhile went to a desk on the right side of the bed and started working on the laptop computer sitting there. Amy tried to work out all these new developments around in her head. Shadow decided to be a murderous asshole and start killing innocent people and subjecting others under a harsh regime. And now, thanks in part to Sonic's idiocy and inaction, the cherry-pink female was his captive in the weirdest prison she ever found herself in. To top it all off, Amy was sick with the flu. All she could really do at this point, was sleep it off.

' _I truly hope the Downunda Freedom Fighters made it out okay. I feel like a total fool for letting them down._ '

XXXXXX

Back on Angel Island, while sitting atop the Master Emerald, Knuckles could see a small stack of smoke emerge from the trees of the Mercian forest from a great distance many miles away. He narrowed his amethyst eyes at the sight, wondering if that was just a natural forest fire or if there had been a battle. He had half of mind to investigate, but the he couldn't leave the Master Emerald unguarded. After letting out a sigh, the ruby echidna pulled out a communicator.

"Hey, Tails?"

A few moments later, the kitsune's voice crackled through the receiver.

"What's up, Knux?"

"Are you still monitoring the Mercian territory?"

"Oh sure. Sally's been having me eyeball the network for weeks."

"Do you happen to be getting something like a forest fire on your end?"

"Hmmm, let me see..."

Knuckles then heard his friend tap a few keys on a keyboard.

"It looks like some thermal spikes are in the area, but it's hard to tell what exactly is causing it. Could be a natural fire or weapons discharge. But with the way things are right now..."

"Hmph, going there alone won't benefit anybody anyway. Thanks, Tails."

"No prob, Knux. I'll still inform Sally about it anyway. She'd want to know about it. Take care!"

"You as well, Tails."

XXXXXX

Amy awoke several hours later with such a shudder. It was half past midnight, and had started to lightly snow with a large drop in temperature in the outdoors. That explained the cold air. The young flower felt as if she were stuck in a freezer despite the fact that she was nearly cocooned in sheets and she was slightly sweating from elevated body heat. Amy sat up when she could no longer stand it and furiously rubbed her arms up and down, with her teeth harshly chattering.

' _Can't someone in this freaking hell hole turn on the damn heater or something?_ '

Shadow's attention was caught from his computer screen by the unfortunate sakura hedgehog shivering in bed. He arched a brow at her behavior wondering what in the seven hells she was up to now.

"What are you doing?" he quietly demanded.

"...it's...it's s-so...c-c-cold." Amy whimpered her reply.

The ebony hedgehog found this to be rather odd. Sure the heater wasn't on but it wasn't that cold indoors. Not to him anyway. Then he realized that shivering was one symptom of fevers. Or so he happened to have read in a medical journal whilst he was still employed by G.U.N. He didn't like the fact that her illness was appearing to getting worse. And the shipment of medical supplies that he had previously ordered in hours earlier wouldn't be arriving until the next morning. A rather strange feeling that hadn't been felt since the old days on ARK. When Maria was alive.

Shadow out down the screen of his laptop, sending it into hibernation mode, and slowly got up from his desk. Amy was too focused on trying to warm herself to notice the midnight warrior approaching her in the darkness. Until he started lifting the sheets, prompting her to jump.

"...wh-wh-wha-what d-d-do yo-you th-think y-you're duh-doing?" Amy stammered through chattering teeth before going into a coughing jag.

Shadow didn't quite fully understand the emotions and feelings that were coming over him. What really mattered to him that it provided a brief escape to the happier times in a reverie. Like a drug he needed to relieve himself of all the realities that surrounded him. Amy on the other hand was having a little panic attack. Here was a person, a male no less, violating her personal space. Especially the very same person who deprived her homeland of its freedom and destroyed thousands of untold lives.

Without saying a word, Shadow climbed into the bed along with the trembling cherry-pink female. He took hold of her waist and gently pushed her back down onto the pillow below her. Amy was still a little too weakened by her illness to physically fight him off like in the hollow of the tree earlier. However, to her surprise, Shadow was being rather gentle and careful with his handling of the young flower. Most likely because of her condition. He laid down with her and wrapped himself around her frame.

While her heart was thrashing about against her aching rib cage and her blood pressure was skyrocketing, Amy realized that Shadow was supplying his own body heat to soothe her chills. Still, she really did not want him this close to her. It made the sakura hedgehog feel sicker. Then she felt him rubbing her back, giving slight relief to her aching muscles. As much as she wanted to resist his 'treatment', her body did not protest. Amy felt her eyes droop from exhaustion and she fell back into the deep abyss of slumber.

xxxxxx

"Rose...wake up."

Amy's ear twitched and the silent peace evaporated when she heard that all too familiar voice and felt her shoulder being gently shaken. She tiredly opened her jade eyes and found that it was already mid-morning.

' _...jeez. Just how long was I out?_ '

Amy groaned as she rubbed her eyes trying to sit up. Shadow meanwhile was waiting quite impatiently for her. When she finally was able to sit up, the crimson-splashed male sat down beside her and handed her a vial.

"Take this." he told her.

Amy cocked her head confusingly as she saw the peculiar looking substance inside the glass.

"...what is it?" she croaked.

"Medicine. It should clear your fever in a few hours." Shadow explained.

Amy was hesitant to take it. How could she know if Shadow hadn't spiked it or if it really was medicine to begin with. But she did want to get rid of her flu so she would have to trust Shadow for now. Reluctantly, Amy drank the whole vial in one gulp and promptly started gagging from it.

"It's...it's bitter." she whimpered.

Shadow ignored her, and gave her a glass of water, which Amy quickly took to wash down the awful taste of the potion. Afterward, he got up and went into the master bedroom's bathroom. Amy laid back into bed with a sigh and a groan. She could already feel the effects of the medicine coursing through her blood stream. The ebony hedgehog returned a few seconds later.

"I should like to know how you were able to leave Mercia." he said, folding his arms.

At first, Amy didn't answer him. But she knew he expected one.

"I slipped past the guards..." she murmured. "I was trying to get the other Freedom Fighters' attention."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. It was quite obvious she was lying, but she didn't care. She'd be damned if she let him bring any harm to her family and friends back home.

"Indeed?" Shadow replied, unconvinced. "And you didn't have any assistance at all?"

"Duh." the cherry-pink female retorted. "I didn't tell anybody. I knew the King would try his damnedest to try and stop me."

Shadow had to give her credit, she sounded very convincing. And with Rob'O himself denying that he had anything to do with it and getting rather upset by her disappearance, it would be very difficult to prove that they conspired to get Amy out of the country. However, Shadow supposed that this mere trifle didn't really matter much anymore, now that he had Amy incarcerated.

"Very well, I'll accept your explanation for now." the midnight warrior murmured.

Amy closed her eyes again as the medication made her drowsy. Half asleep, she heard Shadow trudge around the room. Then she overheard him turn on a television set which Amy had no idea he had. She slightly opened her eyes to see a news report on the screen, but before she saw anything else, Shadow suddenly sat on the bed right in front of her.

"Rest." he told her. "I expect you to make a full recovery shortly."

The young flower made a pouting face, feeling this was rather ridiculous. Being 'under house arrest' must've also included no television. As she fell back into the abyss of slumber, Amy wondered what other restrictions she faced.

XXXXXX

Back in New Mobotropolis, things were rather tense. All the boarders closed at this point, a strict curfew policy was given to the citizens, and there were troops in every corner of the city. Though people were beginning to think that their civil liberties might be threatened, others were willing to put up with it for fear of being attacked by Shadow and the Dark Presence.

In Sally's palace, the auburn squirrel was looking at reports of military progress when NICOLE came in.

"Sally?"

"What is it, NICOLE?"

"I've intercepted a personal message from Rob'O the Hedge."

Sally's face slightly brightened.

"Really? Is it authentic? Is there any information we can use?"

"I ran it through a few systems and it didn't turn up to be something that Shadow orchestrated. But in the message, Rob'O said that he managed to smuggle Amy Rose out of Mercia to get back here."

Sally's expression then dulled a bit.

"...I see. That wasn't very wise of him to do. And now that I think about it from what Sonic told me earlier, she might've ran into some trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"With the borders closed now, commencing a one-man rescue mission for anyone is near impossible. No offence to the King of Mercia, but he should have stayed his hand. We need a more strategic battle plan to liberate the country. Smuggling individual agents is a dangerous and fruitless endeavor."

"But what should we do about Amy Rose?"

"Keep a look out for her, of course. If we can locate her in enemy territory, we'll do what we can."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I'll notify Knuckles about this."

xxxxxx

The ruby echidna was steaming with annoyance and irritation as lent against his crystalline charge. He could not believe that the Freedom Fighters weren't going to try their damnedest to rescue one of their own. If Ray, Mighty, or even Vector was out there stuck in enemy territory, he'd try like hell to get any of them to safety, regardless of any dangers. Politics. That's what it was, he thought. All about war politics. Such things were what estranged him from his late father for a time.

His brow furrowed and his crimson fur bristled as his mood became fouler. A few minutes later, his soulmate joined at his side.

"What up?" Julie-Su greeted.

"Oh nothing. I'm getting rather fed up with all the government stuff." Knuckles replied gruffly.

"I see."

"And I still can't believe Sonic of all people is buying into all this."

"He's most likely doing it to support Sally."

Knuckles let out a sigh whilst Julie-Su looked on with worry. Her companion became rather hard to reason with when he was upset like this. And if one studied their history together, this could end with them bickering. But the lavender echidna held her peace, not in the mood to fight or argue.

XXXXXX

Now you're probably wondering what had become of Rouge the Bat since the fall of G.U.N. and Station Square. Well, since then the voluptuous bat had returned to her mercenary and thieving ways, feeling that her duty for king and country was spent. Although she did miss her time with Shadow and Omega, she felt she was better off. Of course, Rouge wasn't a stranger to the current events surrounding Mobius. But thus far, her life or wellbeing wasn't in danger, and she saw to it that it stayed that way. Besides, she wasn't really interested in power or anything of the sort. Just the glimmer and shine of gems.

Old habits certainly die hard.


	10. Chapter 9

**=Chapter 9=**

When Amy next awoke, she was surprised to find that the medicine that she was given earlier had relieved much of her flu. Although her throat still felt as if it were on fire, most of the achiness was gone. As she observed, the TV was still on, but tuned in on a commercial break and not news coverage. Oddly enough the volume was turned down really low. Amy also observed that Shadow had returned to his desk at some point the night before with his ruby red eyes glued to the screen of his laptop. Slowly, she sat up and groaned from the stiffness from her limbs. Shadow didn't have to look up to know that she was awake. He suddenly got up from his seat and left the room to her surprise and confusion.

After staring at the closed door in silence for a few minutes, the sakura hedgehog slowly got up out of the bed and hobbled over towards it. When she reached out for the knob, her ears twitched to the sound of Shadow's voice giving orders to the Dark Presence storm troopers. She didn't realize that the interior of the lodge, mansion, or whatever the hell it was, was swarming with them like a hornets' nest. It was enough to discourage her from venturing beyond Shadow's room and out into hall this time. Even as her belly started pinching her for food.

' _Well the bastard's gotta feed me eventually._ ' she thought irreverently.

Amy turned and disappeared into the bathroom. Afterwards, she dragged herself out and lazily plopped herself back onto the bed with a frustrated groan.

' _I'll probably die of boredom before I starve..._ '

Her mind went into a deep void of thought, trying to make sense of all that had happened the past few days. The idea of why Shadow singled her out began to plague her. He said that he wasn't expecting her to help him take out the rest of the Freedom Fighters, but did he just say that to make her fall into some false sense of security? If that was the case, it wouldn't work because Amy was already strongly resolved not to give into anything that might be used to help him. Shadow could rot in hell for all she cared. However, if it wasn't the case at all, then why the hell would he target her at all?

Pretty soon, Amy developed a headache from all that thinking. Trying to make a straight thread from a massively tangled mess of a yarn ball was more troublesome than it presented itself. That and the hunger pains from her belly were starting to get a little harder to ignore.

' _Urrggggg, shut up..._ ' she mentally ranted.

Then the door opened back up, so quietly that Amy didn't even hear and in walked Shadow. He noticed her sort of crumpled on the bed and slightly curled up. Again that strange feeling erupted within himself that had long been buried and suppressed. A warm feeling that had not been felt since ARK. When he had Maria been by his side. Why did this haughty female remind him so much of her, especially now? Unknowingly, he allowed all his animal drive to take over almost completely and glided towards the bed. Amy's inner sanctum was disturbed when she felt the extra weight and opened her eyes.

Suddenly, the cherry-pink female felt the crimson-splashed male's lips gently brush against her own. As shock absorbed into her body, it took her a few seconds to realize what was happening. Amy tried to shove him off, but Shadow caught her wrist before her fist landed on him. He effectively pinned her down as she started thrashing around. When the midnight warrior successfully invaded her mouth, she stopped moving.

This was her first kiss Amy realized. And for someone who had never done this before in his whole existence, Shadow was awfully good at it. The worst part? Amy found herself practically melting under his surprise embrace, no matter how hard she tried to resist. Even mental reminders of what Shadow had done didn't seem to snap her out of it. When they finally parted, Amy was so dizzy, her head was spinning. Before the young flower could set her mind straight and fight the ebony hedgehog off, he started nuzzling and nipping at her neck. Amy had this weird sense of weakness come over her even as Shadow loosened his grip on her form. What finally snapped her out of her daze was the sudden suggestion that this might have been the reason she was brought here in the first place. The whole shock of it made her freeze ever more still and her mind blank for a moment.

The only thing to spoil the 'moment' was the sakura hedgehog's stomach demanded to be filled. It caused Shadow to stop almost immediately.

"...of course. You haven't had sustenance in the past 24 hours." the crimson-splashed male murmured.

He gently removed himself from the cherry-pink female and quietly left the room. Meanwhile, Amy still very much in shock, laid all splayed out on the bed. Finally, common sense and clear thinking snapped her back into the reality she was in. She jolted up and clamped her hands around her mouth almost screaming into them.

' _...I...I can't believe...I...with...Shadow...I don't feel very hungry anymore..._ '

In fact, Amy felt sick. Really sick. If she hadn't had an empty stomach right now she'd be throwing up. She was nauseous enough to do so. Then her vision was beginning to blur, making her think she was losing consciousness again...only to feel moisture on her face.

' _...what the fuck?! Stop crying!_ '

While the young flower was frantically wiping her face, Shadow returned to the room with a bowl of steaming hot porridge with apple slices on top. He instantly noticed her distress even as she tried to hide it.

"Something troubling you?" he asked with an arched brow and a hint of suspicion coating his voice.

"N-no..." Amy croaked in reply.

She was lying. She was only starting to realize just what kind of hell she was in.

XXXXXXX

As the Ultimate Lifeform intended, the deserted citadel of Station Square was quickly taken over by Dark Presence forces a week later. With that location firmly under his belt, Shadow turned his attention towards Downunda next. With its branch of Freedom Fighters disposed of, the area and its occupants were now sitting ducks. The only issue being that it was a long way from Station Square and three day's journey from Mercia. But the members of the Dark Presence, jovial from their recent victories, were quite up to the task. Most were eager to face what challenges lied ahead for them there. Shadow needn't have worried about their morale now.

Meanwhile, the Acorn government and its own brand of Freedom Fighters were still giving their fighting effort to counter attack the Dark Presence. But as time went on, it became increasingly harder to track their movements. A fierce battle finally broke out between the regions where New Mobotropolis and Mercia laid. In spite of the violence and the casualties on both sides, the situation reached a stalemate by the time the sun had set. It also caused a minor setback to the parties involved to which Shadow took little note of. Sally on the other hand, took it slightly hard. Here she was, the monarch of the Acorn dynasty and her efforts to maintain the peace and order were blowing up in her face and making her out to be an ineffective leader.

What haunted her the most was falling into the same strains and pit that her father had done before her. Sonic wasn't the last to notice that the last few days of conflict were putting their wear on her.

That night, after speeding from an outpost and all the way to the royal palace, the Blue Blur paid a visit to the auburn squirrel.

"Hey, Sal. Do you mind if I drop by?"

The young queen was so wrapped up in her official papers that she didn't even hear him at first.

"Sally? You awake over there?"

Finally, she perked her head up and blinked her sapphire eyes a few times.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Sonic." Sally apologized. "I'm sort of busy at the moment. Official state affairs."

"...you've been working on that for at least a couple of days." Sonic replied, frowning.

"Well, I can't help that. I've got five sectors breathing down my neck for military support. No thanks to the Dark Presence."

The auburn squirrel let out an annoyed huff as she furiously scribbled her signature across a page. Sonic walked over to her, behind her seat and gently swiped the pen out of her hand.

"You know I think, your majesty, with all due respect?" the cyan male said as he started massaging her shoulders. "I think _you_ need a break."

Sally let out another sigh and leaned into Sonic's touch. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't recall when she had a full 8-hour night's sleep as of late.

"Maybe I could use a break..."

XXXXXXX

Amy was curled into a ball in the space between the bed and the desk in the master bedroom of Shadow's compound. Only a little over a week had passed since her capture and already it was taking its toll on her. The sakura hedgehog was mostly cooped up in Shadow's room and seldomly allowed out. Cabin fever was taking hold as she rocked herself back and forth. Amy had tried actively avoiding the midnight warrior as much as she could. She still had to endure him at night when he would come into bed with her, even when she tried to stay awake to make sure he stayed away. The weather outside was growing ever colder and it finally began snowing. Thick storm clouds completely capped the sky and thick snow effectively cut off the compound by its overland route which created within it, a perfect hiding place for Shadow to avoid detection from his enemies.

Amy hated it, because that meant the crimson-splashed male would spend most of his time there. And should he ever have a spare moment, he'd focus entirely on her. The cherry-pink female didn't even want to consider that...that suggestion that her whole purpose there was to be...his toy.

Presently, the whole house was quite quiet. Amy could barely pick up on a conversation that Shadow was having with one of his underlings. She wondered if she could escape to the study where she could at least find a book to read so she could quell her boredom.

Suddenly, Amy picked up on the name _Rouge_ whilst overhearing Shadow and the guard. Were they talking about Rouge the Bat? Or was there someone else called Rouge? The young flower's questions were almost instantly answered when she heard the familiar sultry sound of the snow white female's voice.

Rouge the Bat was about her usual treasure hunting business when she accidentally ran into a few Dark Presence legionnaires. Because she was very much neutral and mentioned a prior working history with Shadow, she was brought before the ebony hedgehog directly.

"So handsome, is this what you've been doing with your spare time?" Rouge asked coyly.

"And I see you've reverted to your thieving ways." Shadow replied rather impatiently.

Rouge could easily detect from the tone of his voice that he really didn't want to be here interrogating her.

"And you're just about the same. Always business." she told him rather mockingly. "But maybe if you ask nicely, I won't cause you any sort of trouble."

Shadow arched a brow. Technically, she wasn't causing any real problem to begin with. Rouge just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I take it you're aware with current events, then." he said pointedly.

"Only what I've been hearing from small fry." she replied, referring to the smaller criminal groups that were somewhat prominent a few years ago. "But since I'm pretty much on my own those days I could really care less."

For once, Shadow was surprised. He assumed after allying herself with G.U.N. that she had turned from her previous lifestyle.

"But I must say." Rouge continued. "I'm impressed that you want to take on the world by yourself."

The Ultimate Lifeform narrowed his blood red eyes.

"You would not understand." he murmured in a low voice.

"Mmmmm, probably not. But in any case, I won't stand in your way." the albino furred bat purred. "So if you don't mind, I'll show myself out the door."

Shadow briefly went into thought as Rouge started to leave. Perhaps he could put her neutrality to good use.

"Rouge?" he called out. "I don't suppose you do an assignment for me?"

"Oh?" Rouge replied with a playfulness in her voice. "What kind of assignment?"

"I would like for you to be my eyes and ears and infiltrate New Mobotropolis."

"And what's in it for me?"

"The Dark Presence won't interfere with your _other_ activities."

Rouge smirked. Wasn't much of an offer, but it was better than being stopped and pulled over for suspicious activity in that sense.

"Well alright if you insist."

Amy, who had poked her head out the door, was surprised by everything she had just heard. The worst part was she did not have the means to warn her friends back in New Mobotropolis.

' _Like they would believe me anyway..._ ' she thought bitterly.

That wasn't entirely true, however. Knuckles would take her seriously, given the fact that Rouge had tried to make off with the Master Emerald in the past. Slowly and very quietly, she closed the door and retreated back into the room. After some thinking, Amy found herself rather stuck. She of course wanted Shadow to get his ass handed to him and herself liberated from him, but at the same time, she was still very much upset by the fact that Sonic had pretty much ignored her pleas for help when she needed it.

Heaving a very heavy sigh, Amy dragged herself into the bathroom to wash her face. Looking into the mirror, she noticed that she now had dark circles underneath eyes. The sakura hedgehog could thank Shadow for that. She turned on the faucet on the sink and began washing her face. When she turned off the water and dried off, she suddenly saw Shadow's reflection appear in the mirror. Amy let out a gasp and nearly jumped into the ceiling. The crimson-splashed male arched a brow at her.

"What are you up to?" he inquired, suspicion coating his voice.

Amy, who was holding onto the sink for support while clutching her chest, nearly had heart attack.

"What the hell do you think _you're_ doing?!" she ranted accusingly. "You nearly scared the crap out of me!"

"Why may I ask? Are you doing something that you shouldn't?" Shadow quietly fired back.

"...No, dammit!"

The infuriated cherry-pink female stomped out of the bathroom and past her prison keeper, flopping face first onto the bed. Shadow gave her another suspicious glance before returning to his computer. As long as she wasn't planning on trying to escape, he could at least be at ease where Amy was concerned. The same could not be said however for the young flower.

Suddenly, all the lights in the compound mansion went out, causing the two hedgehogs to jerk up. A legionnaire patrolling with others outside began shouted.

"RAID!"

A group of fighter jets swarmed the skies as the army below rushed into position to return fire and mount turrets. Meanwhile, Shadow grabbed ahold of Amy and carried her hastily downstairs, while barking orders via radio. To Amy's surprise, there was not one flight of stairs that led down to a dining room and a den, but another that went down into a kitchen and a small sitting room. And they hadn't even reached the basement.

' _Okay, this house is freaking weird._ ' Amy ranted to herself as the midnight warrior hauled her around.

The next thing she knew, they were in some sort of bunker. After being set down, the sakura hedgehog barely had any time to ask questions when Shadow was already out the door again.

"You are to remain here until I return." the crimson-splashed male rasped.

Then he was gone in seconds before Amy even realized it.

"...h-hey! Wait a minute!" she cried. "What's going on?!"

Her ears slightly twitched to a light but deep explosion sound. Then another. Thus putting together the orders Shadow made and the shouting outside, made Amy realize they were in the midst of an air raid, courtesy of New Mobotropolis.

' _Holy crap..._ '

Although they were probably intending to fire on Station Square and weren't aware of the presence of the compound here. Either way, it would be bad for Shadow if the Kingdom of Acorn found out where he had been hiding. All too soon however, there was a cease fire and Amy couldn't hear any more sounds from the surface. No gunfire, no shouting, nothing, which frustrated and worried her.

Who won and who lost?

XXXXXXX

On the surface, Shadow managed to maintain order and dissuaded anyone from opening fire back on their attackers. The last thing he wanted was their position being given away. He could handle a damaged compound in the long run. In spite of the electromagnetic jamming in communications, he was able to get around it and send warnings to his commissars in Station Square about the impending attack.

20 minutes of waiting and monitoring the attackers' position and the situation they were in, the electricity around the compound returned and all the systems were back in working order. A voice from Shadow's radio crackled through the receiver.

"Lord Shadow?"

"Report." the ebony hedgehog replied.

"Fighter jets were brought down, sir."

"...All of them."

"Yes, sir. All of them."

A malevolent smirk slightly stretched across Shadow's dark tan muzzle.


	11. Chapter 10

**-Chapter 10-**

Amy couldn't tell what was worse. Being in Shadow's bedroom or this God-forsaken bunker. It was so quiet, that the silence was almost deafening. She was sorely tempted to bet her life that Shadow had forgotten she was even down there. There was no clock in the room, digital or otherwise, so there wasn't a way to tell how long she was down there. A thought of an attempt at escape while Shadow and his goons were distracted crossed her mind. But the whole bunker itself was constructed entirely out of cinder block and concrete so digging out was almost impossible unless she had the right tools...which she didn't have.

Amy let out another sigh. Then her ears twitched to the faint sound of legionnaires barking military talk left and right which told her that they survived the air raid.

What a joke that was.

The sakura hedgehog wondered if Sally was trying round for round for diplomacy while simultaneously strategizing counter attacks. Her actions or perhaps a lack there of, was disappointing to Amy. Were her hands tied because of lousy politics? There were people in danger of being killed and others that already had suffered that fate, too much to even ignore. Was there really any room for debating? Amy was even more disappointed that Sonic would just go along with whatever plans she had. They might've worked in the past with Robotnik, but Shadow was different. He was not going to surrender or give up to plot another day. He was going to do whatever it took to achieve his goals and destroy who or whatever got in his way. That was it.

Either Sally and the Freedom Fighters would have to step up their game, or everyone on the whole freaking planet was doomed.

' _What's worse is that Shadow now has Rouge spying for him._ ' Amy thought in despair. ' _Knuckles and Julie-Su are the only ones who don't fully trust her, but how often does Sonic ever listen to him? They'd have to get Espio to spy on her to see what she's really up to, but even that's a stretch._ '

Suddenly, the cherry-pink female heard footsteps coming towards the bunker, but she didn't react. It had to be Shadow. The door clicked open and in came the ebony hedgehog himself. Amy let out a heavy sigh.

"You're still here?" she muttered, obviously disappointed. "I was hoping those stupid jets would blow you the hell away."

A mix of emotions swirled around in Shadow's mind. On one hand, it infuriated him that she had the boldness to speak to him so disrespectfully, but on the other he was amused by her mindless ranting. He almost let out a chuckle.

In any case, he approached her and extended his hand for her to take only for Amy to get up and walk past him. Shadow roughly grabbed ahold of her arm in response and proceeded to drag her out into the hall. Amy was caught off guard by the act but let him do it because she didn't want to be stuck in the bunker any longer than she had to. The crimson-splashed male pulled her back into the master bedroom. To Amy's surprise, the house didn't seem to sustain much damage during that air raid. They were probably more after Station Square and the raid was collateral damage they happened upon. And now that the jets had been shot down, their superiors will probably never know.

XXXXXX

That night, Amy had cocooned herself again in blankets because of the now icy air. It was heavily snowing outdoors, creating disruptions in the radar signals. Because of that, the Dark Presence was forced to shut down the radio transmissions to preserve power supplies.

By herself again, the young flower cursed her captors for ignoring the damn environmental controls. The cold air was keeping her awake. Finally, when she could stand it no more, Amy got up wrapping a flannel throw blanket around herself and made her way into the hall, down the two flights of stairs and into the kitchen. Even more relieving was the fact that the house was very much empty. No Dark Presence guards and no Shadow.

' _Where is everyone?_ ' Amy thought curiously.

Of course she could use the opportunity to try and escape, but after taking one look outside, the heavy blizzard was enough to change her mind. Besides, she was much too exhausted to actually focus on formulating an escape plan and she really didn't want to come down with another flu. Rummaging around the kitchen and the pantry, Amy came across a kettle and some herbal tea to go with it. The cherry-pink female fired up the stove and waited for the water in the kettle to reach boiling point.

' _Those damn smoke detectors better not be sensitive..._ '

After fixing her tea, Amy went to the adjacent den across the kitchen and sat down on the couch, curling up. There, she noticed that there was a small bookshelf and a fire place. But from the looks of things, no one has seemed to use it in a long time. Her ears twitched to the howling of the wind outside. Other than that, there was nothing but silence. Amy thought if this was some weird kind of solitary confinement.

Granted, it wasn't a tiny cinder block cell, but it could eventually boil down to cabin fever.

Halfway through her tea, Amy emitted a yawn and started dozing off.

xxxxxx

In a barracks building on the west end of the compound slightly converted into a computer lab, Shadow was overlooking some LCD screens with a small group of legionnaires. They were trying to get the Doppler radar to be fully operational and functional in order to get a lead on the weather patterns. Mobian weather could somewhat be chaotic and caused a lot of electromagnetic jamming.

"The north tower is still unresponsive." said one legionnaire. "The sensors might be off line because of ice."

Shadow lowly growled. It was another inconvenience that was infuriating. He could imagine that his rivals weren't faring that well either, but it was still frustrating.

"There's not much we can really do about it now." Shadow sighed. "I don't need to have a body count from men freezing from the massive temperature drop. It'll be a waste of time and manpower trying to fix it. We'll have to wait till morning."

The ebony hedgehog turned to put on a trench coat and then prepared to leave.

"See what you can do for now." he told the legionnaires. "Radio in if anything comes up."

"Yes, sir!"

Shadow went out into the front courtyard of the compound and trudged through the two inches of snow towards the mansion. Coming inside, he noticed a light coming from downstairs which was easy since the whole house was nearly darkened. He learned it was a soft light that originated from the kitchen once the midnight warrior descended down the stairs. He next saw Amy curled up on the couch in the den across from the kitchen. His brow furrowed and his ruby eyes narrowed.

Amy's ear twitched to the sound of feet coming down the staircase which snapped her awake from dozing off. She next saw Shadow giving her a very annoyed look.

"What will it take for you to remain in the room upstairs when there's no supervision?" he growled.

Strangely, Amy felt calm in the face of his muted fury. She could sense that he was pretty pissed off, but it didn't bother her at all.

"...are you really gonna get mad at me for fixing a night cap?" she asked pointedly.

"You seem to misunderstand the concept of _house arrest_." Shadow hissed with venom coating his voice.

"I understand it perfectly. For one thing, I haven't tried once to 'leave the house'."

That was true, she hadn't. Even though Shadow expected her to, Amy hadn't tried to escape the compound at all.

"I will grant you that." he said with a sigh. "But in the future you will request my permission for such things."

Amy held in a groan. She was much too tired to argue with him nor did she really want to. It was very much pointless since he was set in his ways. Shadow approached her and got the mug out of her hands. The tea inside it had gone lukewarm and the young flower did not care to drink any more of it. The crimson-splashed male disappeared into the kitchen and came back with the lights turned off. With it pitch dark, Amy could barely see in front in front of her. Then she felt a pair of arms scoop her right off the couch, startling her enough to throw her arms around Shadow's neck to keep from falling.

' _Jeez, you think he could be any rougher?!_ ' the sakura hedgehog mentally ranted.

As they ascended to the top floor, Amy's teeth started to chatter again from feeling the frigid air. A few minutes later, Amy felt herself being lowered onto the bed and shuddering from sheets that had gotten cold from her not being in it.

' _Fuck..._ '

She wasted no time burrowing into the bed like a gopher, trying to shield herself from the cold. Then Amy felt those same arms wrap around herself again but she wasn't going to have that this time around.

"Get the hell off me!" Amy cried.

When Shadow refused to heed her, the cherry-pink female started hitting at him.

"I said get the hell off me!" she barked.

Instead, the ebony hedgehog grabbed ahold of both her wrists and pinned them down. Amy then resorted to using her legs to try and kick him off. One step ahead of her however, Shadow positioned one leg between her own, effectively pinning her. Finally, she attempted to use her whole body weight to get him off, but it just wasn't any use.

"Give it up." Shadow lowly growled, becoming quite annoyed by her actions.

Amy emitted a whine and continued struggling while he had her bound up like a boa constrictor with its prey. Finally, she gave into exhaustion, almost out of breath. When the midnight warrior was fully satisfied that she wouldn't try it again, he relaxed his somewhat predatory stance.

A few seconds later, the young flower felt a muzzle poke into the cleft of her neck, causing a few shivers to run down her spine. She shrugged her shoulders in an attempt to repel him.

"Muh...stop..." she stammered, feeling her face heat up.

A low, deep sound came from Shadow which was like a cross between a growl and a purr. Amy nearly responded with a mewl in a strange sense of animal instinct before catching herself. Suddenly, she felt a pair of sharp fangs dig their way into her neck and remaining there in the quickest of seconds before vanishing. Amy was so startled that it jolted her brain awake and she let out a yip. The crimson-splashed male began licking her neck shortly afterward. Amy's ears felt flat against her head while she started trembling underneath him. It then occurred to her as to why her cousin was being so protective of her weeks earlier whenever Shadow was lurking about. She tried struggling again but her brain wouldn't register her mind's commands. Eventually however, Shadow's grip on her relaxed and even then she didn't try to fight back.

Although the ebony hedgehog wasn't doing much other than cuddling her, Amy closed her eyes and went into full denial mode.

Never in her wildest dreams did Amy believe that someone like Shadow the Hedgehog would exhibit any interest in her, romantically or otherwise.

XXXXXX

Back in New Mobotropolis, Tails was glued to a computer, going through various files available on Shadow and the Dark Presence. To his frustration, anything he already had and found was outdated, and the G.U.N. network was so old at this point that it was found to be squatted upon.

A heavy sigh escaped his maw and he stared blankly into the screen. Then, a thought occurred to him that perhaps he should attempt to hack into the Dark Presence network. It was worth a shot, however it would be quite dangerous. There could be booby-traps laced throughout it, and one false move would be disastrous.

' _I have to at least give it a whirl..._ ' the kitsune thought.

With one deep breath, Tails began tapping away at the keyboard. He tried to remain calm throughout and not give way to nervousness.

' _You can do this..._ ' he repeatedly told himself. ' _Show those guys who's the better hacker._ '

His skills impressively got him a little far. At least far enough for him to find out about a tid bit of information that shocked him.

' _Oh no..._ '

But as he feared, a counteract against intrusion wormed its way through the network. Fortunately, the anti-malware program warned Tails about what was coming, giving him an opportunity to quickly log off. He didn't stop there, he shut off the whole mainframe for a few minutes before turning it back on. To his great relief, there didn't seem to be anything wrong lingering around the hard drive. But as a precaution, he initiated a defrag on the hard drive.

A few minutes later, Tails pulled out his communicator and pulled out a call.

"...ermmm, hullo?"

"Knux? Are you there?"

"...yeah *yawn* what's up?"

Apparently, the ruby echidna had been sleeping before hearing his own communicator ring.

"Sorry if I woke you, but you might wanna hear this."

"Shoot."

"Well...I did some snooping around, and-"

"Snooping? You didn't do anything reckless, did'ja Tails?"

"No harm, no foul..."

"Somehow I don't find that reassuring..."

"Really Knuckles, everything's okay."

"If you insist. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Like I said, I was tinkering around...and I came around some info you might not like."

"Oh lovely. As if things can't get any worse."

"It looks like Amy Rose has been captured by the Dark Presence. Or I should say, 'recaptured'."

A lump formed in Knuckles' throat.

"Are you sure?"

"Well, I only had two seconds to actually look at the report."

"Report? What do you mean? Does Sally know about this?"

The saffron fox bit his lip.

"Well, no. Nobody else does either...I...I hacked into the Dark Presence's network."

Knuckles felt a vein nearly pop.

"You what?! Tails, are you nuts?!"

"I managed to get out before anything bad happened."

"I'm sure as shit hope you did."

"Scout's honor."

The crimson furred guardian pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a groan.

"So you're saying that Amy's been recaptured?"

"Yeah, according to a report I saw. But it's weird, I didn't see anything that said that she was returned to Mercia."

"I see."

Suddenly, a horrible notion came across the kitsune's mind.

"...Y-you don't suppose they executed her, do you?"

"If they did, I'm pretty sure Shadow would be boasting about it right now. We just gotta keep our chin up, Tails."

"Yeah..."

"Is there any way you can track her?"

"Not really. I'm not picking up her signal anywhere."

"Hmmm, I see. Anyway, don't repeat this to Sally. We'll keep this to ourselves."

"Are you sure about that, Knuckles?"

"You're damned right I am. If we end up having to rescue Amy Rose or have the golden opportunity to do so, I don't want politics interfering."

"Okay, whatever you say Knux."


	12. Chapter 11

**-Chapter 11-**

The next morning brought feet upon feet of snow around certain areas of Mobius particularly near Station Square. The sky was so grey from the overcast that it took time for daylight to finally break into the environment.

Shadow's compound was almost completely dead silent. It would be hard for any passerby to think that it was actually occupied. Inside the house, a pair of hedgehogs were still slumbering as if the night had not ended. Surprisingly, this was probably the first time Shadow ever physically slept without being inside of a tube that was either empty and giving him a power transfer, or one that was filled to the brim with soothing nutrient enriched liquids. It felt rather...odd. Like being stuck in a black void and feeling weightless. The ebony hedgehog was nearly tempted to wanting to start abusing it like a drug. Shadow was built so that he would not require sleep in order to regenerate like others. But the sensation was...interesting to say the least.

Amy meanwhile, was buried under his form and dead to the world. Shadow indeed proved himself to be the ultimate electric blanket. She didn't realize how warm he was. And with the tuft of snowy white fur adorning his charcoal coated chest made him somewhat comfy to snuggle up to. Unlike Shadow however, Amy was completely out and didn't even hear the midnight warrior's communicator go off. His blood red orbs flew open, causing him to jolt forward and quickly grab for it.

"...Report." Shadow ordered after clearing his throat.

"Our radars have been restored, sir." a legionnaire told him on the other line. "It appears we'll be having more bad weather coming our way."

"I see. It can't be helped. We're going to have to be prepared for the change in the climate. Station Square will be a good source of supplies, but we'll also have to start manufacturing weapons and other supplies."

"There's nothing to worry about that end, sir. When we were employed by Robotnik, we were provided with a weapons development facility within his base. It should still be operational."

Shadow thought for moment. It certainly wasn't a bad idea.

"Look into it. Anything else?"

"Yes, we've had an unauthorized access to our network approximately 0400 hours ago."

Shadow narrowed his eyes. He wondered if the Knothole Freedom Fighters had been behind this and had been aware of his own hacking. But even so, he couldn't have the Dark Presence network security comprised.

"I see. Tighten security on the network. I want everyone to change their passwords and log in information immediately." the crimson-splashed male demanded.

"As you wish, sir."

The conversation clicked off on the other end. Shadow let out a heavy sigh and tried to clear his head. Then a sakura form partly buried in sheets and still snoozing away, emitted a moan. Her face was contorted in expression as if she were being tormented by nightmares. Shadow's own face softened and after staring at her for a few seconds, he leant down and began nuzzling her neck. The action was enough to cause Amy to stir from her slumber. Amy felt like hell. She didn't have much of a good night's sleep with no thanks to the ebony hedgehog. Now this beast was harassing her yet again. She shuddered at his dark tan muzzle poking through her quills and at the cleft of her neck, curling into a defensive ball.

"Guh...go away...asshole..." the cherry-pink female muttered almost incoherently.

Shadow could hear her lowly growling defensively at him. But he paid no mind to it. Amy let out a squeak when she felt his muzzle ran over the very spot where he bit her previously. It still stung like a wasp's stinger.

"Stuh...stop!" Amy exclaimed, jerking her leg up to him off of her.

The midnight warrior was easily able to dodge her kicks and pin his captive down underneath him, in a domineering fashion. Amy let out and shuddered again. To her surprise however, Shadow became gentle afterward in spite of feeling his fangs clamping down on her fur in some form of grooming. She continued to growl at him until he finally ceased his intrusions and got out of bed. He switched on the lap top on his desk. Relieved that he finally let her be, Amy burrowed quickly underneath the blankets and curled into a ball.

How on earth did things unravel so monstrously into this? Couldn't Shadow take a freaking hint already? Well of course not, it had to be his way or the high way. She still couldn't wrap her mind around the idea that crimson-splashed male would even be remotely interested in her. Or how she even became the object of his desires. Now she was really cursing Sonic at this point. Amy started to feel sicker than she had earlier. Did the powers that be decide that she didn't already have enough hell in her life?

Suddenly, the young flower felt the urgent need to take a shower. She bolted up out of the covers and darted towards the bathroom, nearly tripping over her own feet. Amy quickly caught the attention of her 'roommate' as she slammed the door behind her.

Amy nearly felt herself having a panic attack coming on. This whole affair made her feel really disgusted and wrong. Her reasoning was that her interactions with Shadow was a slap in the face to all those who were victimized and lost their lives to the Dark Presence.

She wanted to punch Shadow in the face.

Then she heard knocking at the door.

"...Rose?"

"Go the fuck away!"

The sakura hedgehog turned the shower on, really hoping that he would take a hint. She waited for a moment before proceeding to remove her clothes. Fortunately, it seemed that Shadow was respecting her need for privacy at least for the moment. So she threw caution to the wind.

The water was warm and soothing, something that Amy definitely needed. Soon enough, the steam fogged every reflective material up. As she bathed, the cherry-pink female felt tears prick at her tear ducts. She squeezed her jade eyes and gritted her teeth.

' _No, I'm not going to cry...I'm not going to cry..._ '

Suddenly, Amy froze when she heard the door open. She instinctively tried covering herself as her captor walked in. The glass in the shower stall was textured so all Shadow could see was a blurred out appearance of her form. Amy had needn't worry about him intruding upon her because his only intention was to place something on the lid of the toilet. Even then, the young flower eyed him like a hawk as she continued to cover herself. Amy stared at the door as if she suspected him to sneak in again. After five minutes with the warm water steaming and running down her bare form she finally let out a sigh and her tense muscles relaxed.

xxxxxx

When Amy climbed out of the shower minutes later, she found that the parcel that Shadow had left behind was a set of clean clothes. After drying off, she quickly put them on. It turned out to be another set of G.U.N. gym clothes. Was this supposed to be her prisoner uniform or something?

Very timidly, Amy crept out of the bathroom, half wishing that Shadow wasn't there. But of course, he was. She had her jade eyes glued to the floor as she slowly trudged towards the bed. Amy sat down on the floor with her back against the side of the mattress and obscuring Shadow's view of her.

"In the future, I will not have you addressing in such ways." his voice suddenly boomed into the silence.

' _...Fuck off...pervert..._ '

"Rose?"

Amy flinched when Shadow's voice got louder. He sounded pissed.

"...sure, whatever."

The sakura hedgehog didn't even want to talk to him. If he didn't like the way she addressed him that was too damn bad. Her ear twitched to the sound of Shadow making a restrained growl.

' _...what a baby._ '

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab ahold of her arm so tightly that Amy let out a startled yip and roughly pulled up onto the bed. Then she found herself under the harsh glare of the crimson-splashed male.

"Do not forget that you're a P.O.W. here." Shadow hissed at her. "And I expect you to obey my every order."

"Don't flatter yourself!" Amy hissed back. "You really think I'll just simply do as you say?! Like some freaking robot?!"

That must have struck a chord because Shadow's hand snapped straight around her neck. The young flower gasped as air was being denied to her lungs. She didn't notice the hesitance in her captor's features. To him however, this was the only way to make her understand that he was in total control. Amy was under the assumption that she had pissed him off enough to want to attack her.

"...guh...go ahead, do it!" she goaded, not caring much about her life at the moment.

After all, why should she live while others died?

Shadow held in another growl. Amy was really testing his patience to the limit. But he thought of an alternative than using brute force as it obviously wasn't bending her to his will. And it would relieve him of the thoughts of Maria that plagued him.

Somewhat.

The midnight warrior lowered Amy back onto the bed and released her neck. She let out a sharp gasp and a got into a coughing jag as oxygen quickly made its way back into her windpipe.

' _...shit.._ '

Trying to relieve her burning lungs, Amy didn't notice that Shadow was advancing in on her...

...Until it was too late.

The sakura hedgehog emitted a squeak when he captured her in a kiss. She squeezed her jade eyes shut and tried fighting him off. He didn't use much of his strength to subdue her since she was already out of breath from earlier. But Amy wasn't going to let him harass her again.

' _...son of a bitch!_ '

No matter how hard she tried to repel his advances, Amy could not get herself away from him. When Shadow moved in closer with his form just centimeters from her own, the cherry-pink female realized that he was being serious with this. She tried to shift her body weight to throw him off again but he had her limbs wrapped and somewhat tangled with his own. Amy let out a muffled cry of frustration as a furious blush broke out on her muzzle. Shadow finally released her from his embrace and she gasped for more air. She let out a groan when the ebony hedgehog's muzzle found its way back into the cleft of her neck.

"...Shuh...Shadow..." Amy rasped. "...s-stop."

Her response was a swift and deep bite to her neck, earning another yip from her. Shadow held her head in one place by digging his hand into her soft pink quills. Amy's ears fell flat down as she whimpered. He bit her deeper and harder than he had done before and it hurt pretty good. She was also certain that he drew blood. It was more or less a true marking of her as his property and it felt like a huge intrusion. The young flower was unable to keep her tears at bay no matter how hard she willed herself not to.

Then a very terrifying thought occurred to her.

What if Shadow decided to go further just to get his point across?

Although ordinarily, she would correctly hypothesize that such things wouldn't have remotely interested him. But he had just thrown that theory out the freaking window.

The reality of what was happening that very moment made Amy go into denial and half of her brain switched off from the shock.

However, as soon as the crimson-splashed male heard her whimpering and felt her trembling beneath him made him think that he made his point quite clear. He relaxed his grip on her and started licking the wound on her neck. It had indeed bled, but it wasn't barely enough to be considered a problem. Amy winced at the stinging sensation she felt as Shadow gently dragged his tongue across fur and skin. Amy moaned, feeling the pain in her neck throbbing.

After what seemed like forever, Shadow had finally lifted himself off of his captive. Her neck was cleaned up from all the blood that came out of the bite mark he made. Amy was still a bit in shock to even notice. That and the fact she had her jade eyes screwed shut. He lent down again to make sure he could hear him.

"In the future, you will do well to remember the consequences for insubordination." he murmured.

Then he left her be. It took Amy a few minutes to realize that he was no longer there. She slowly opened her eyes, still wincing from the burning and throbbing sensation in her neck. The sakura hedgehog shifted her weight around so she was now on her side and curled into a tight ball. Her hand latched itself around her now tender throat.

Amy couldn't decide what was scarier. Dying a slow painful death, or what just transpired. She wasn't so sure if she wanted to stick it to him anymore.

XXXXXXX

On the other side of the planet, was the land of Downunda. It had been rendered defenseless since its own branch of Freedom Fighters had disappeared. Large convoys of Dark Presence legionnaires had been surveying the area and lying in wait for their leader to give them the order to invade. It was noted that forces from New Mobotropolis were stationed there, but not enough to outmatched the Dark Presence.

If Shadow could have seen this for himself, he would've been quite disappointed in his Acorn rivals. As a slight part of their united kingdom, it had been virtually left swinging in the wind despite troops stationed there. Perhaps Queen Sally wasn't taking this as seriously as she should have been.

After conducting a few more observations and spy missions, a Dark Presence lieutenant attempted to make radio contact to the Mother Base.

Contacting through the airwaves had been finicky because of the change of the weather patterns disrupting the magnetic waves. The receiver crackled with static and white noise as the legionnaire made another attempt to punch in signals to initiate contact.

Then the crimson-splashed male's voice patched through.

"Report."

"Mother Base, this team Platinum reporting in." the lieutenant quickly answered before the transmission could be disrupted. "All available intel has been gathered. Requesting permission for invasion."

On the other end, Shadow's brow arched at the lieutenant's anticipation. Admirable, but could open the door for mistakes.

"Have you transmitted the intel?" he asked.

"No, sir." the lieutenant replied. "Not yet."

"I want you to transmit that to Mother Base first. I don't want to take unnecessary risks."

"Yes, sir."

Shadow could tell in the ton of the legionnaire's voice that he was disappointed.

"We _will_ take Downunda." the midnight warrior assured his underling. "But the conditions must be right lest we have the Acorn ilk get one stop ahead of us."

"Of course, sir."

"But since you reported in, I'll be dispatching more foot soldiers."

"Very good, sir."

After disconnecting from the communication, Shadow began brooding. Although he was just as eager to put Downunda under his belt, he didn't want to fall short of where he was now.

Even he had to restrain himself at times.


	13. Chapter 12

**AN: So, I've gotten lots of reviews for updating. Keep in mind that University school and work are taking up most of my time presently and I'll update as much and soon as I can. I will be however, taking the summer off from school so hopefully, I'll be able to focus more on my writing projects.**

 **Other than that, please enjoy da next chapter.**

* * *

 **-Chapter 12-**

Returning our attention to Rouge the Bat, the infamous thief made her way to Angel Island. Since Knuckles could be so gullible most of the time, why not start her dirty work there?

And to be perfectly honest, Rouge wasn't really into being on Shadow's side. True she still cared for him as a friend, but she was always independent. Not having the Dark Presence meddling into her affairs was a plus, but she wasn't about to claim a side just yet. The albino bat flew towards the floating island and landed in Haven II. Just like any other metropolis, it was bustling with life but it seemed very quiet. Almost solemn.

' _What a bore..._ ' Rouge thought.

Given the fact that the echidna population was just getting back on its feet. Haven II wasn't quite teeming with life. She passed by a few civilians who curiously took note of her. Rouge didn't mind. Out of all of them, she was only interested in one.

"You know, you've got a lot of nerve showing your face around here." growled another feminine voice.

The snow white mercenary turned and saw Julie-Su sternly staring at her.

"Ah, Pinky!" Rouge sweetly exclaimed.

"That's Julie-Su to you, you insufferable witch!" the lavender echidna ranted. "And just what in hell's half acre do you think you're doing here?!"

"Why, you make it sound like being in Haven II is illegal..."

"For someone with a history like yours, it should be."

Rouge had to chuckle. Getting under Julie-Su's skin was quite good fun.

"So you've heard of my extra-curricular activities, I see." the ivory bat sang.

"You're damn straight I have." Julie-Su growled. "And so has Knuckles and the Chaotix."

Rouge seemed to brighten up after hearing that.

"He has? How quaint!"

Now the female echidna was getting really pissed off. She seriously hated when Rouge began flirting with her soulmate.

"Alright, that's it!"

Julie-Su lunged at the snow white thief and tackled her to the ground. After a few minutes of wrestling with each other, Julie-Su finally managed to handcuff Rouge.

"I'm taking you straight to Major Remington!" the lavender echidna growled.

Just then, after hearing all the commotion, the rest of the Chaotix, sans Knuckles, came rushing to Julie-Su's side.

"Hey, 'Su!" Are ya-Rouge?!"

Vector's jaw nearly dropped when he saw the thief.

"Oh goody, the gang's all here." Rouge purred.

"What the hell are you doin' here?" Vector ranted.

"Oh, I just decided to pay Knuckle-Head a visit, before lil' Miss Sunshine here decided to cuff me."

"Meaning you're here for the Master Emerald." Espio interjected.

"Oh that old thing?" You think with everything that's been going on recently that I'd be crazy to try that? Too much security for my liking."

"Like that's ever stopped you before." Julie-Su murmured.

"Bah! I say we turn her into the EST!" Vector exclaimed.

"Couldn't agree more with you, Vector."

"Oh come on, at least let me say hi to Knuckle-Head!" Rouge cried as they dragged her away.

XXXXXXX

Back in Station Square, Shadow and a second in command to the Komissar were looking over the intel transmitted from Downunda. It seemed to be more promising than the crimson-splashed male was hoping for.

"What do you think, sir?" the Dark Presence captain asked. "They seem to be sitting ducks to me."

"Indeed." Shadow replied. "But do we know if it's being closely monitored by those damned Acorns?"

"If you ask me, I believe the continent is left swinging in the wind in spite of mounting all their defenses and having military presence there. It's no match for our forces, really."

Shadow let out a grunt. This seemed a little too good to be true. But on the other hand, this could be his one and only chance to conquer it.

"Very well, Captain. You have my permission to mobilize the troops for invasion." he said. "Be certain to remind the men what should happen if they fail."

"Aye, sir."

xxxxxxx

Hiding in a closet in the tower of the mansion was Amy Rose. It might as well had been a spare room instead of a closet since it longer than a square inch. One of the oddest things thus far that Amy encountered in the whole house. This freaking tower thing, complete with a spiral staircase no less, and all it had at the top was this dark little room closet thing.

So why was Amy hiding here? It was the one place the Dark Presence legionnaires did not go on patrol. She just had to get out of Shadow's room, not being to stand being there for the time being. The cherry-pink female imagined that she'll probably get busted for it, but she didn't care.

Her neck still hurt from the day before, and left a near permanent mark. It made sense from a certain view because now she was somewhat 'claimed' as property by Shadow. Amy shuddered at the memory of being bitten by him. She sat against the wall hugging her knees to her chest. Amy could barely hear anything from downstairs, but cared little about it. The silence was more comforting than the noise from below. Presently, Amy was having a mental conflict with herself. The young flower really wanted out of the compound, but there was virtually no way out. Winter's wrath caused packs of snow to surround the entire area, and Dark Presence guards swarmed the place like wasps in a hornets' nest, so escape was near impossible. Shadow was certainly not about to start negotiating for her release and seemed pretty intent on keeping her. That and Amy wasn't even sure if Queen Sally would even bother to ask for her release.

Amy had the urge to curse out Sonic right about now. One could argue that successfully that if he at least made some effort in coming to her aid, she probably wouldn't be sitting here presently. She was beginning to get home sick and missed her family terribly. Amy felt her face heat up and her tear duct fill to the brim. She didn't bother to stop the stream from rolling her face. The sakura hedgehog slowly slid to the floor so that she was all balled up. A few seconds later, she rocked herself slowly back and forth, trying to at least mentally escape from her current predicament.

That was really her only way of getting out of the harsh reality she was in.

XXXXXXX

Rouge was sitting in an interrogation room, bouncing her leg on top the other with her arms folded and impatiently waiting for Remington to show up. She was starting to think that Shadow and the Dark Presence's hospitality was better than this. Then, a few moments later the head of the EST himself walked in. To the ivory bat's delight, Knuckles was accompanying him. Seeing her there prompted the crimson furred guardian to arch a brow. He had wondered why Julie-Su was so angry and against him coming here.

"So you've finally decided to surface, have you?" Knuckles said.

"It's nice to see you too, Knuckles." Rouge purred with a grin.

"Let me guess, you're after the Master Emerald am I right?"

"Hardly, I actually was trying to seek sanctuary from a former colleague of mine, and his Halloween dressed-up goons."

It was the echidna's turn to grin.

"Oh really?" he leered. "Life on the run must really be a drag, huh?"

Rouge scowled. Sure she could get under the guardian's skin from time to time but it really sucked when he returned the favor.

"I can see how sympathetic _you_ are." the snow white female muttered.

"I'm kind of curious as to what you stole from them." Knuckles replied, folding his arms.

"I didn't steal _anything. I_ was minding my own damn business until those freaks decided to bother me for no reason."

"My, how terrible for you."

"Look, are you just gonna stand there and mock me or are you gonna help me out?"

"Oh, I'll help you out. If you do a little community service."

Rouge scowled a little more after hearing that. Shadow had better give her a lot more for this mission. Then another thought occurred to her that might make this a little more interesting. Why not act as a double agent? Hopefully, if either side didn't come to rely heavily on her for intel, the ivory bat could move freely around the globe without restrictions. That is of course, if she played her cards right.

"What kind of community service?" Rouge cautiously asked.

"Oh nothing much. You're a trained medic and technician, right?" Knuckles replied.

"Yes..."

"Well then, you will fit nicely in the Haven Infirmary Dispatch."

"So if I am to understand this, you want me to play nurse to a bunch of saps?"

"Well not directly. And that's the deal, take it or leave it. That is if you really want our trust."

Rouge bit her lip. She didn't like it, but it was for her a perfect place. For now, it was better than a prison cell, she could take down information and not be in a position where she would become somehow emotionally attached to any of the wounded and other patients. And if she was good enough to not have them constantly watch her, she could move freely.

"Well if you insist." Rouge sighed in feigned defeated.

Suddenly, a communicator resting on Remington's belt went off, prompting him to answer it. The expression on his face turned from neutral, to horror.

"The Dark Presence has just invaded the continent Downunda." he rasped.

Rouge smirked a little at this new development.

' _Getting more territory hungry are we, Handsome?_ ' she thought.

XXXXXXX

Night fell on Station Square, and it started to lightly snow. Security was bulked up since the Dark Presence's forces were in the midst of an invasion. Adding to Shadow's frustrations, was the climate interfering with communications as static ruled the airwaves.

"The last coherent report we have detailed entry into the capital, sir." said one legionnaire.

The crimson-splashed male acknowledged his underlings with a silent nod. The only thing he could really do for now was to sit and wait. Something that Shadow did not do so easily but he had little choice in the situation. At the very least, the last report seemed rather promising.

Shadow spent the very late hours in the lab in the barracks until he realized that he had a certain sakura hedgehog that hadn't been checked on all day. He wanted to see what she was up to but was hesitant to leave the computer lab. Thoughts of the cherry-pink female doing something that she shouldn't, like perhaps harming herself, finally got him to make up his mind.

"Continue surveillance on the Downunda invasion." Shadow ordered. "I don't want any communications to be shut off until the party manages to patch through. And I want to be kept informed of any new developments."

"Yes, sir." the legionnaire replied obediently. "Good night, sir."

"Good night."

xxxxxxx

Amy woke with a horrid sense of fear and off putting. Since the sun had gone down, the spare room she hid in was pitch dark and nothing short of ice cold. And being curled up as she was for a long period of time added further strain to her muscles. Getting up, Amy felt incredibly stiff that she groaned from the effort. The fact that the room was a thick black darkness nearly threw her into a panic. She literally could not see in front of her.

' _Great, how the hell do I get out of here?!_ '

Amy propped herself up against the wall, only for her to fall back down onto the rough floor. Teeth chattering and whimpering, she remained there. Then her ears slightly twitched to the sound of someone coming up the stairs outside the room. Since the tower was mostly hollow, any sound made there would be heard clear as a bell. Amy tried getting up again in a startled jump, but she still fell over like a bunch of bananas. In spite of her brain's commands to her limbs, and the adrenaline in her blood was running high, she couldn't seem to get her form to budge.

' _Dammit..._ '

Then she barely made out the door opening as a dim light illuminated the darkness. Amy decided to lay limp and give up. There was little point in trying to get away anyhow. The figure entering the room thoroughly examining it before setting his ruby gaze on the trembling and shivering form on the floor. The young flower closed her own jade orbs once she recognized the shape.

Shadow had been looking all over for Amy when he discovered that once again she was not where she should be. Since bringing her here, the ebony hedgehog had placed a tracker on her person. With it, it wouldn't take him long to locate her. He was especially dismayed when he saw that she was exposed to frigid temperatures. Seeing her frail attempts to get on her knees and falling back down, softened his angered demeanor into a surprising gentle one. He knelt down beside her and extended his charcoal and crimson striped arms to her, only for Amy to grimace away from him. As the sakura hedgehog tried moving away from her captor. As she did so, Shadow simply scooped her up. Amy let out a few strained yelps and squeaks which were barely audible until Shadow proceeded to nuzzle her face to quiet her down.

Amy wanted to get away from him if she could, but for some weird reason a part of her didn't want to. That part of her felt like snuggling up to the midnight warrior.

Shadow carried her down the stairs and back down the hall to the master bedroom. Amy's teeth could be heard chattering.

"When are you going to listen to me and stay where you belong?" Shadow sighed.

Amy wanted to say 'never', but all that came out of her mouth was an incoherent 'muulp'. When they stepped inside the master bedroom, it was surprisingly warm to her. Either that or her mind was playing tricks on her. The crimson-splashed male set her down on the bed, but before she could retreat into the real warmth of the sheets, he held her in place. A few seconds later, Amy felt her shirt slowly being removed. She let out a squeak, the only real sound she could utter at this point. Then off came her sweat pants, prompting her to kick and push Shadow away. This was just a bit too much of personal space violation for her liking and made her question just what the hell the ebony hedgehog was up to now. Amy would not bear the brunt of the cold air for very long as Shadow pulled her close against himself and wrapped the blankets tightly around her. The sudden embrace of warmth made the cherry-pink female go into a lull, especially when her captor began gently nipping and nuzzling at her neck. The deep affectionate and territorial purrs coming from his throat, caused Amy to emit mewls. Against her will, her body seemed to respond to Shadow's advances as her went red, her ears flattening in submission and allowing a blind form of bliss to cloud her mind. She made a shudder when the ebony hedgehog licked the bite mark on her neck.

' _...what...the hell...is he doing to me?_ ' was her last coherent thought.

Perhaps a better question was, why on earth was she allowing him to behave this way towards her? Normally, she would have shouted and slugged him at this point. Was there a suppressed part of her that longed for such attention beginning to surface and making a vice-like grip on her mind.

Amy then felt Shadow slightly pin her down before capturing her in a kiss.

And her mind went blank...

XXXXXXX

The morning sun slowly rose from the depths of the sky bringing light into the darkened land. But it provided little warmth because of the winter storm clouds. It was also deadly silent. No birds or anything to sing of the coming of day.

Deep within the compound outside of Station Square were the two hedgehogs that we left the night before. The crimson-splashed male was on his side, nearly curled into a defensive-like ball. His fur bristling as if he was on edge about something that had disturbed him which further added to his aggressive appearance. Hidden beneath him, protected from all else was the young flower who might as well have been in a coma considering how deeply asleep she was. The sound of the heating air vent turning on to warm the room caused Shadow's ears to twitch and him to stir.

He cautiously raised his head to scan the room for any kind of threat or intrusion-even though there was none-before redirecting his attention to the sakura hedgehog still in a deep slumber beneath him. The sudden disappearance of warmth he was giving slightly disturbed her and prompted Amy to unconsciously snuggle up to him, burying her face into the white patch of fur on his otherwise charcoal chest. Slowly blinking his ruby orbs, Shadow laid back down and coiled his arms back around her bare frame. Amy let out a few sleepy growls when he started grooming her soft quills before returning to the void of dreamland. Shadow ignored the grumpy protests emitting from the cherry-pink female and continued on with his activities.

Until his communicator rang out, prompting him to instantly cease his actions to answer it.

"...Report lieutenant." Shadow murmured after clearing his throat.

"Sorry to disturb you at this hour, my lord." the voice on the other end began. "But we've just received word from our forces in Downunda."

The mere mention of the continent made the midnight warrior wide awake.

"Go on." he replied, bracing himself for whatever news it was.

"The invasion was successful sir. The sub government has surrendered and Downunda is ours."

Shadow nearly did not believe what he heard. He sat in silence, processed through his mind.

"My lord, are you still there?"

"...Yes, lieutenant. I will be down shortly."

Shadow promptly got out of bed when his ears twitched again. This time to the sound of Amy letting out a whine in her sleep from another sudden loss of his warmth.

Before leaving, the ebony hedgehog pulled the blankets over her bare form and giving her a gentle peck to her muzzle.


	14. Chapter 13

**-Chapter 13-**

NICOLE had been frantically trying to deploy messages to the Acorn army and to the Queen about the quickly unraveling situation in Downunda.

"We've gotten confirmation on Dark Presence legionnaires in Downunda." she told the auburn squirrel. "And the cell of Freedom Fighters there isn't responding."

Sally let out a frustrated groan. How could something like this happen? That was the second territory overtaken by Shadow and his minions. This was the final straw.

"NICOLE, I'm deploying the Freedom Fighters and the army to Downunda immediately." Sally boldly said. "No more deliberations. We must act now."

"...Right, I'll make sure they get their provisions ready and get their weapon systems online." the holographic being responded.

"Thank you, NICOLE."

Then the queen patched another connection on her desk.

"What's up, Sal?" Sonic's voice crackled through the airways.

"Tell the others to pack their things, yourself included." Sally instructed. "You're all going to Downunda for a counter invasion."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" the blue blur replied with excited glee. "When do we leave?"

"Immediately. And Sonic? For the love of Neo Walkers, come back alive."

"Aww, c'mon Sal. Have some faith will ya?"

XXXXXXX

Amy slowly awoke, grimacing and wincing from a pain originating from her abdomen. Her first question was why the hell she was so sore? Rising was a bit of a strain since the young flower was almost tangled up in sheets and blankets. Once she was up, Amy suddenly realized that she was bare from the neck down prompting her to grab the sheets to cover.

' _What...what the hell happened to my clothes?!_ ' she mentally exclaimed.

When she tried getting out of bed so she could address the matter, Amy winced from pain again.

' _...ugnnh, why does it hurt?_ '

Amy tried to think. She recalled being in the tower and Shadow coming to fetch her.

Then it all came back to her.

With a sharp gasp, the sakura hedgehog recalled with horror that she made love to Shadow the Hedgehog.

The shock of it made Amy stunned so much that her mind went blank for a few moments before grabbing a pillow and screaming into it with all her might.

How did this even happen? Of all worse things that could have unraveled. Amy had never felt so sick in her life or sickened of herself. This was a bigger smack in the face to her fallen comrades, her family, and everyone else that was suffering on account of the Dark Presence than getting herself captured. In spite of the pain, Amy jumped out of bed and darted towards the bathroom. She quickly turned the water in the water in the shower stall on waiting impatiently for it to become hot. After getting in, the cherry-pink female squeezed gobs of shampoo into the palm of her hand and covered her whole head with suds, doing the same with the body wash. By the time she was done with everything, more than two-thirds of the bottles were used up when they were previously almost barely empty.

But Amy did not care.

She wanted Shadow off of her. She wanted to eliminate all trace of him and the feeling her form had from the night before. All the while her jade eye were filling with hot water as well.

After finally turning off the shower, Amy's whole form was a little red from the hot water. She shakenly left the bathroom and went frantically looking for a set of clothing. Tears finally broke out of her eyes as she dressed herself, and it wasn't long before she broke out into sobs. Repeating to herself, how the hell she let this happen and how could Shadow do this to her?

' _I...have to get out of here. I can't wait any longer!_ ' she thought.

How exactly she was going to accomplish that she did not care.

XXXXXX

Shadow had gotten a ride on one of his secure airships to Downunda so he could survey the recently conquered territory. Many of the Acorn forces were arrested and held in prison camps, while civilians were forced inside their homes. To say the least, Shadow was somewhat pleased with the handiwork of his underlings. It was what he wanted in the first place, quick and effective. But he wasn't really interested in military prisoners.

"This is a great wide territory, my lord." a Dark Presence commander. "It will be perfect for erecting weapon manufacturing plants."

"Indeed." the ebony hedgehog agreed. "However, we're getting short of resources, so let us see if we can convert existing buildings into such until we have a strong foot hold here."

"As you wish."

Then, another legionnaire came running up to them.

"My lord!" he cried. "We're just received intel that Queen Acorn is sending reinforcements and the Freedom Fighters."

Shadow's expression turned dark.

"Hmph, at this rate, they'll be too late to do anything effective." he murmured. "At this time, I want you to interrogate the lower ranking Acorn soldiers for any useful information by any means necessary. As for the higher ranking soldiers...eliminate them."

The two legionnaires obediently saluted them and left to carry out their orders. A lieutenant that remained behind, went to the crimson-splashed male's side.

"Will you be returning to Station Square, sir?" he asked.

"No." Shadow replied. "Since her majesty went through the trouble of sending me guests, it's only fair that I remain here to receive them. And if those young soldiers in Acorn ranks wish to see the light of another day, they'll assist us in winning this battle by nightfall."

xxxxxxx

Sonic, the Freedom Fighters, and an entire legion of the Acorn army were pulling into Downunda via armored airship. They ran the engine on a special gas that would keep the craft quiet, efficient for sneak attacks. Sonic in particular was eager to touch down and get the party started.

"Hey Tails..." the cobalt hedgehog spoke into his radio. "You got the coordinates?"

"Right. You'll be touching down ten miles south, southwest." the kitsune replied back from his position in a chart room back in New Mobotropolis.

"Cool."

"Be careful, Sonic. There might be guerrilla teams lying in wait for you when you guys land."

"Don't worry about it, Tails. I'll be doing most of the cleanup."

Suddenly, the red alert alarm sounded off on the ship.

"Shit, we've got missiles!" the pilot exclaimed.

Bunnie and Sonic quickly examined the radar as the pilot took evasive action. Two missiles were launched concurrently and were riding right towards the craft. Both their faces turned pale.

"...Fuck, how did they find us so quick?!" Sonic ranted.

"We're gonna have to land now if we're gonna attack at all." Bunnie said.

The airship dove down towards the earth below while the missiles were still viciously on their tail.

"Anything we can do about those damn things?" the blue blur asked.

"Lemme have a go at it." Bunnie offered.

She transformed her mechanical arm into a laser cannon and took aim at the rockets that were hell bent on hitting their target. The mobian hare opened fire and managed to get one missile. However, its partner managed to strike the airship's left wing.

"Shit, we're hit!" the pilot cursed.

As he struggled to maintain control, the aircraft began to violently descend. Finally, it occurred to everyone present that they weren't going to get out of this unscathed or even alive.

"Quickly, we've got to abandon ship." the copilot said.

The ship's occupants frantically put on parachute packs and prepared to jump overboard.

"I've radioed een to our reinforcements." Antione told them. "Zhey are comeeng een for a landeeng."

"That's a relief." Rotor replied.

Without wasting another second, the airship's crew leapt out into the air, deploying their parachutes moments later. Their craft crashed into the land and exploded shortly thereafter. Once the Freedom Fighters safely got onto the rough terrain, they were greeted with the rest of the convoy.

"Well, that's one setback I hope we don't come across again." Sonic sarcastically quipped.

However, as the team and Acorn forces barely regrouped, there were fired upon via guerrilla tactics by the Dark Presence legionnaires. The troops scattered for cover so they could return fire as did their Freedom Fighter counterparts.

"You just _had_ to say that, didn'tcha?" Rotor ranted.

A fierce fire fight ensued between the two factions. Each trying their damnedest to bring the other down. During the battle, Shadow appeared with an entourage at the top of a rocky hill. His appearance set off a nerve in the Freedom Fighters, most especially Sonic.

Shadow meanwhile watched the battle with interest. Maybe this time he could actually vanquish the Acorn Kingdom's backbone.

Sonic and his comrades were finding themselves being backed into a wall in the sense of things as legionnaires advanced ever more further. Then suddenly, one legionnaire fired a powerful weapon at Bunnie Rabbot that effectively blew off her prosthetic arm clean off from the resulting explosion.

"ARGGGHHH!" she screamed.

"Bunnie!" Antione cried as he watched his wife fall to the ground in horror.

Sonic quickly rushed to the part-robian's side and got her to cover in the same manner of speed. It didn't take them very long to realize they would have to make a hasty retreat if they were to get out of there to fight another day.

"Sonic, we're gonna have to pull back." Rotor told him.

The royal blue male grudgingly had to admit that the walrus was gravely right.

"Freedom Fighters, pull back!" Sonic shouted.

A large group of Acorn troops remained behind to exchange fire with the Dark Presence legionnaires while the Freedom Fighters and the rest of the Acorn Army fled into the deeper part of the Downunda hills. Shadow meanwhile watched with both disdain and amusement.

Although he was denied the opportunity to destroy the greatest thorn in his side and the spine of the Acorn Kingdom, he was satisfied to know that he had them on the run.

"Call back the legionnaires." he ordered his commander, who gave him a quizzical exchange.

"We're not going after them, sir?" he asked.

"I think we've made our point for today. And its readily apparent that they fully intend to win back this territory, so there is no doubt they'll grace us with their presence again. After all, it would be better to restock the armory with full force now that we have a good supply of it."

The commander nodded at the midnight warrior's reasoning. It would in fact be a waste of time and energy chasing their enemies down. If one thought about, it would open the door to a stronger attempt for a counter invasion by the Acorn Army with only a fraction of the Dark Presence forces left guarding the new territory while the larger fraction was off fighting.

"I think, commander, it's time we look further into using guerrilla tactics." Shadow said. "Here they might be more useful than traditional military tactics."

"As you wish my, lord."

XXXXXXX

Day seemed to slowly turn to night. The Dark Presence solidified their hold on Downunda. When all the civilians and Acorn troops secured in prison camps, Shadow decided to return to his compound outside of Station Square. It took a long time for him to leave because he wanted to be certain that his underlings could work without his presence.

It was one in the morning when Shadow finally left Downunda. Landing near his compound proved difficult because of an impending blizzard. When he arrived at the mansion, he was struck to find that it was buzzing with foot soldiers rushing around and the searchlights blazing bright. He quickly accosted one of his lieutenants.

"What happened?" the crimson-splashed male demanded.

The lieutenant was hesitant to say anything at first, but eventually reported to his superior.

"Please forgive us, sir. But the Subject somehow was able to leave the property."

Shadow's face noticeably turned grey but kept his stone hard expression.

"How long ago?" he said.

"Only fifteen minutes."

"She could not have gone far then. Not in these conditions."

"Yes, sir."

"Have you activated the homing probe?"

"Of course, but the weather patterns are interfering with the signal."

"Nevertheless, it won't be difficult to have her found."

xxxxxxx

Unfortunately, in Amy's case, Shadow was very correct. She had not gone very far from the compound because of the frigid temperatures. The sakura hedgehog had waited too long to execute her escape plan, but she didn't care. She vowed to leave or die trying.

As the temperature continued to drop, it started to snow heavily. Amy's teeth chattered harshly while she shivered in the same manner. It was also dark since the sky was completely blanketed in storm clouds. A heavy wind blew past her, making her stop and nearly causing her to fall to her knees. Before the cherry-pink female could move on, an all too familiar voice broke the silence.

"That's far enough."

Standing half a foot away from her was Shadow looking stern as ever. Amy couldn't turn around to face him, so she attempted to trudge further. Shadow was annoyed, but could see that it wouldn't be long before she had stop from exhaustion. He proceeded to approach her slowly so as not to startle her. Amy jumped when she felt him reach out for her and tried to punch him.

"Guh-get th-the f-f-fuck a-away from m-m-me." she stammered.

Shadow paused as Amy continued to shiver like a dead shriveled leaf. She tried moving away from him only for to stop after a few steps. The freezing air was beginning to get to her.

"Rose, come back." Shadow directed, with sympathy slightly coating his voice. "There's nowhere else for you to go."

Amy slightly bit her quivering lip. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the midnight warrior was every bit as right. Besides, how much longer would she be able to go on before he eventually decided to drag her away? Finally, her knees buckled underneath her and she fell into the snow. Shadow was quick to catch her and scoop her up in his arms. Amy found herself snuggling into his own snow-splashed chest for warmth, which she inwardly did not wish to do.

"I-I-I...huh-hate y-y-you..." she quietly wept.

Shadow paid her no mind. He simply and quietly carried back to the compound.


	15. Chapter 14

**-Chapter 14-**

Shadow called off the yellow alert around the compound once he had his 'Principal' back safely behind the walls of the compound's mansion. The prospect that Amy could likely have a reoccurrence of the flu and standing an even bigger chance of developing pneumonia because of her long exposure to the severe weather cause him great irritation and distress. After getting the sakura hedgehog back upstairs, Shadow's first thought was to get her body temperature back up and decided to make her take a hot shower. It took Amy a few minutes to realize that he was doing just that when he started removing her clothes, prompting her to begin squirming almost violently.

"N-no...s-stop..." she muttered in a weak voice.

Her throat was so stiff that making any noise at all was nearly impossible.

"You don't need to be getting hypothermia." Shadow murmured calmly and slightly nonsensical. "Just relax."

There wasn't really much cherry-pink female could do to stop him anyhow. As it was, her mind was half clouded by exhaustion and her want to get warm again, and her limbs were nearly half frozen. The ebony hedgehog gently helped into the shower stall and assisted in her in bathing. Amy's whole muzzle went beet red even though he had already seen her bare before. But after a few moments of hot steaming water enveloping her form, her focus was on how relieved and soothed she felt. Shadow was certainly gratified to see color return to her face. 10 minutes later, he pulled her out, got her into a fresh set of sweats and put her to bed.

The moment the young flower laid down, she was out like a light bulb. Shadow did not hesitate to join her, not even bothering to pull out his computer. He pulled her limp form against his own and entwined it in his crimson-splashed limbs. He then began aggressively grooming her soft fur which bristled from his touch at first and bury his muzzle right into the cleft of her neck. Amy was too deep asleep to even bother paying any mind to him.

XXXXXXX

A really bad snow storm had blown in during the night and continued into morn. The snow built up so thick and fast, that the entrances to the compound buildings were blocked. The legionnaires would have to start shoveling it off of the doorways, windows, and pathways in order to get around to business. Shadow himself was watching from afar from his window to survey their progress. All forms of communication and air travel was impossible because of the harsh weather system. But this glitch in the system as it were, was of no concern to him. New Mobotropolis as he understood it was having the same problems since they were caught in the same harsh winter.

His ears twitched to the sound of coughing and caught his full attention. As he feared, Amy had a reoccurrence of the flu thanks to her outing in the snow last night. He left the window and sat down on the bed beside her, stroking her muzzle with his hand. Amy hunched her shoulders and made a shudder. Her whole body ached so much, she nearly found herself regretting her decision to attempt escape. However recalling that she and Shadow had mated earlier made her feel more ill. Wrapping her head around the prospect of him taking interest in her like that was still rather impossible even to just imagine it.

The young flower let out a shaky sigh along with a short coughing jag. Shadow began rubbing her back to relieve the stress in her muscles. Amy relaxed and let him near her in spite of her disgust of him. She closed her jade eyes after they had started to ache, and rested. Meanwhile Shadow was treating the sakura hedgehog with great care. There wasn't much else he could do at the moment. The weather conditions continued to be an inconvenience to their operations. Amy let out another harsh cough from her throat, raking her lungs and rib cage with pain. Shadow went deep into thought about what medical supplies they had on hand. Right now it was a little impossible to take a quick trip to Station Square to retrieve anything.

XXXXXXX

Rouge arched a brow and boredly kicked her leg up and down as she sat in a holding cell with her arms crossed. Everyone was running about after the announcement came in that the Dark Presence were invading Downunda. And from what she heard from all the chatter, it appeared that Shadow and his band of underlings were successful.

' _Boy, Shadow sure is giving them a run for their money._ ' she thought. ' _Kinda makes one wonder if these guys are even capable of taking him on at all..._ "

A few moments later, Major Remington came to her holding cell to let her out.

"It's about time." the ivory bat sighed impatiently. "And by the way, the Feng shui in this room is awful."

The dark reddish-brown echidna quietly rolled his eyes at her complaint but paid her no mind.

"The Guardian wishes to speak with you again." Remington told her.

Rouge's face instantly brightened up at the sound of his statement.

"Oh does he?" she sang. "Hopefully to give me a full pardon."

The major emitted a muffled groan as Rouge walked past him. He was starting to wonder if Knuckles was in his right mind to even consider using her 'services'. They both came to a large conference room with walls adorned with large screens. Knuckles was sitting in a chair, silently brooding with his hands folded underneath his chin.

"Major, would you give us some time alone?" the crimson echidna requested in a solemn voice.

"Of course, Guardian." Remington replied before taking his leave.

The second the major left the room, Knuckles immediately turned to Rouge.

"You probably are well aware of what just transpired." Knuckles said in a grave tone.

"I gather that the Dark Presence chalked up another territory." Rouge replied smoothly.

"Point being is that I could really use your help. We could all we can get."

"Well, did I not agree to your terms?"

"Yes, but I don't want you to half-ass it."

Rouge let out a 'hmph'.

"Of course not, Knuckles." she said a bit sarcastically. "You of all people should know I happen to be very thorough."

Knuckles emitted something between a growl and a groan. Somehow he thought he was going to regret having her around later.

Meanwhile, Rouge was satisfied that she at least convinced him. However she noted that she would have to be _more_ than convincing in the coming weeks, especially now that the Acorn territories were getting a lot of heat from their adversaries and on high alert.

XXXXXXX

The ruby guardian later tried to contact Sonic and the rest the Freedom Fighters. He was seriously considering breaking Angel Island's neutrality and joining in the fray. In spite of the spotty reception due to the chaotic weather conditions, he managed to patch through.

"Sonic? This is Knuckles here. Can you read me?"

"A bit loud and clear, Knux. Hope you and the Chaotix are in better straits than we are."

"Only just. But it won't be long before Shadow decides to turn his attention onto the Master Emerald."

"Paranoid as always."

Knuckles narrowed his violet lenses and ignored that quip.

"But in all seriousness..." the blue blur continued. "...we're in some pretty deep shit. I'm starting to think we might have been outed."

"How do you mean?" Knuckles asked with an arched brow.

"Those Dark Presence asshats knew our entire battle plan before we could even touch down. It didn't take much for them to ice us."

"Alright then, how did that come about? Your network get hacked?"

"If you ask me, I think either an inside job or someone defected."

The crimson furred echidna made a rather annoyed face.

"Now who's sounding paranoid?"

"I'm being serious, Red."

"Even if that were true, wouldn't it have been done by coercion? Or torture?"

"Maybe. There's a lot of opportunists out there."

Knuckles heaved a heavy sigh. That hedgehog jumped to conclusions often during crises like this, though the Guardian himself shouldn't be one to talk.

"So, what did'ja call for?"

Knuckles bit his lip. He was starting to think that calling the cerulean speedster was a mistake.

"Just to see how you are holding up despite the setback." the ruby echidna murmured.

"We'll hold up. Bunnie's down for the count until we can get some proper medical supplies." Sonic responded.

"I see. Well, I'll let you go. You obviously need to recuperate your losses after today."

"Right. Later, Knux."

Knuckles let out a heavier sigh once the connection was cut off. That idea he had about breaking Angel Island's neutrality sounded pretty bad right now. Knuckles wasn't quite sure what the hell was going through Sonic's mind when he suggested that someone on their side would willingly defect. He would have to keep close eye on the Freedom Fighters and the political atmosphere at New Mobotropolis.

XXXXXXX

Three days later, the Dark Presence gained a string foothold in Downunda even with the intervention of the Freedom Fighters.

Shadow monitored the situation from his compound as he watched Amy like a hawk. Since pulling her out of the snow that past night, she was slightly recovering, but that wasn't what was bothering the ebony hedgehog. His sakura companion wasn't eating. She remained curled up on his bed and not moving around much. Not just refusing to eat, but she also stood to lose muscle mass that way. Since the most severe blizzard had ceased for now and there happened to be a greenhouse on the compound property, he could take her outside later just so she could get some form of exercise. Amy on the other hand, was uninterested in such things. Her mind had become such a void that she didn't even notice the hunger pains pinching at her stomach. Nor did she take note of her captor leaving the room and returning shortly thereafter with a box of rations.

"Rose?" he softly called out.

The cherry-pink female refused to answer him. She still hadn't worked up the urge to confront him for that night they 'shared'. Meanwhile, the midnight warrior heaved a heavy sigh. He was already anticipating her stubbornness. He placed the rations box on his desk and went towards the bed, gently shaking her.

"Rose, get up."

"...leave me alone." Amy quietly droned in a monotone-like voice.

"I will not. I want you to get up. You haven't eaten in the past 48 hours."

"...I'm not hungry."

"I highly doubt that."

Shadow retrieved the rations box from his desk and sat it down on his lap.

"Come, eat.."

Amy let out a short whine. Even though she was too worked up in her emotions to eat anything, she thought that maybe if she appeased him this once, he'd leave her alone already. At least his request wasn't unreasonable.

For now.

The young flower slowly got up, groaning from the stiffness in her joints. She almost lost whatever appetite she had after looking at the packaged food in the box.

" _That's_ food?!" she muttered.

The crimson-splashed male arched a brow.

"I'd thought by now you would be accustomed to rations." he replied.

Oh so that's what it was, Amy thought. Yes, she was familiar with food item like these, but she didn't particularly care for them. Things must be really tight now if the Dark Presence were using these to sustain themselves. Better than nothing she supposed. Amy slowly started eating, wrinkling her nose after each bite. To her surprise however, the box was empty in a matter of minutes. And now she really felt hungry.

"...is...is there more?" she asked meekly.

"Yes." Shadow replied, slightly smirking. "Plenty more..."

XXXXXXX

Outside a medic tent, both Sonic and Antoine waited impatiently and anxiously for any update on Bunnie's condition. Their medical supplies had just arrived, and the medic quickly went to work on the injured half-robian rabbit. About an hour of waiting later, the medic finally came out with some news.

"Well, it's fortunate that Miss Rabot's mechanical parts took most of the damage. The prosthetics at the base of her shoulder seemed to have shielded the organic tissue beyond inflammation and bruising. It could have been quite worse, but she'll live. Miss Rabot will be needing a new arm for certain."

Antoine nervously rubbed his forehead as the medic took his leave.

"Hey, at least she's not on life support." Sonic told him comfortingly.

"At least..." Antoine sighed.

"Go on in and sit with her. You guys are relieved from duty for now."

"Thank you, Sonic."

A grateful coyote left the royal blue hedgehog's side to be at his wife's. Rotor joined Sonic shortly thereafter.

"So, do you really think someone defected?" the walrus asked.

"Yeah..." Sonic said with determination. "Knux suggested that they might have been coerced."

"Hmmm, both your suggestions are logical. But we'll need more evidence on that before we call it."

The pair went silent after that as the sun set in the horizon.


	16. Chapter 15

**-Chapter 15-**

In the royal palace, dominating much of New Mobotropolis, Queen Sally was losing a lot of sleep and peace of mind in recent weeks. Her frustrations increased higher than they were before once she learned of the failure of the rescue and liberation mission in Downunda. The suggestion that the mission was compromised sent her mind unraveling as who or what could possibly be behind that. They had plenty of traitors during the war with Eggman Prime but Shadow wasn't Eggman. NICOLE tried to relieve her strains by taking over mission control and a slew of investigations into what exactly went wrong on the young monarch's behalf. It was there where the electronic lynx learned about the unfortunate fate of the Downunda cell of Freedom Fighters.

Sally wondered if she pulled out the offensive too little too late. Allies that weren't captured by enemy forces were dropping like flies left and right. This whole disaster was making her look like an ineffective leader. But she also realized that if she kept up this 'defeatist' attitude any further, people would just surrender to the Dark Presence and accept their harsh authority.

' _I need to bring in other allies to the Kingdom._ ' she thought. _'Everyone's livelihood and welfare depend on it.'_

Eventually she would have to try and get Angel Island to break from their neutrality with the reasoning that they were also under threat and wouldn't be able to remain neutral for very long. Another thought was to bring a broader edge to the army to make it just as tough as the Dark Presence legionnaires.

"NICOLE?" the auburn squirrel spoke into a communicator. "Bring me the admiralty as soon as possible."

"Of course, Sally." NICOLE replied. "Anything I can help with?"

"No I need to do this."

"What are you going to do?"

"Turn this damn situation around."

NICOLE didn't push the matter any further. From the sound of Sally's voice, she was not in the position to debate or argue.

The queen quickly jotted down everything she wanted to say so she wouldn't lose her train of thought on the subject and leave out any details that might slip her mind later. Then a thought occurred to her.

What about the Dragon Kingdom?

For many months, Sally hadn't heard anything from her friend and ally Monkey Khan who ruled over the Free People of the Dragon Kingdom. In their last transmission, the cybernetic primate was keeping the Yagyu and Raiju Clans at bay, but nothing too serious. Sally toyed with the idea of contacting him and calling a truce between the two warring clans in a joint effort against a common enemy. If one thing was for certain the two clan's egos would allow to be united in another servitude under a single leader. After the whole Iron Dominion affair, they vowed never again to be subjected that way. In spite of alleging themselves with Eggman during his final years, the Raiju always did things their way regardless if the late mad man was happy about it or not.

' _It sounds unethical, bringing an otherwise peaceful land into the horrors of war._ ' the auburn squirrel thought. ' _But it won't be long until Shadow turns his attention towards it, and if I know the Yagyu and Raiju clans, they won't give up their territories without a fight. Eggman was one thing as far as the Raiju are concerned but Shadow's another. I don't see Conquering Storm taking advantage of Shadow like she did with Robotnik_.'

XXXXXXX

As if their minds were synced somehow, Shadow was overlooking a small holographic map of the entire Dragon Kingdom deep in calculating thought and slight interest. However, he wasn't going to be making plans for it just quite yet. The ebony hedgehog was much more interested in taking Angel Island than anything else at the moment. Having the Master Emerald under his control would certainly be a game changer and put him in a higher advantage above his enemies. In addition, vanquishing Sonic and his cell of Freedom Fighters. If Shadow could achieve that he would be able to let the dominoes fall where they may.

The very issue of the Freedom Fighters was driving his desire to return to Downunda. Although the midnight warrior did not doubt the capabilities of his underlings, he knew the Blue Blur all too well and Fate seemed to favor him in the heat of battle. Not only that, things could change at the drop of a hat. If the Dark Presence's hold on the continent wasn't stable enough, those inferior Acorns could drive them out. That just left Shadow one issue.

What to do about the sakura hedgehog in his custody.

After her last stunt, she proved to be untrustworthy to be left alone without his direct physical supervision, even with the entire compound crawling with his men. Commanding his troops in Downunda while in Station Square wasn't quite feasible for him. After doing some thinking, he considered bringing her along with him in his airship to Downunda and keep her in the brig. Thus he could directly deal with his holdings on the continent and not be too concerned about Amy getting into trouble.

The cherry-pink female in question was sitting in a corner on the other side of the room, keeping very much to herself and fiddling around with a piece of string to keep her from sheer boredom and not to give Shadow a reason to suspect if she was up to something.

Which quite honestly, she wasn't.

With her failed attempts to flee or escape the ebony hedgehog's grasp, she was mentally back to square one. Her desire to kick his ass had simmered down significantly to a point where she didn't really care to do it anymore. Amy wanted nothing to do with him or be in the same room with him. She still shuddered at the memory of the night they 'shared' and tried to wrap her head around the idea that he was even interested at her. In all the years she known him, he never gave the slightest hint that he had any attachment to anyone let alone a female. If he wasn't, what did he hope to gain by doing this? Shadow wasn't an idiot. He wouldn't waste his time with this when killing her would be much simpler as any information she could give him would be useless to him in his bid for global conquest.

The young flower leaned against the wall, causing her head to bump up against it and created a loud thud. The noise earned a quick suspicious glance from her captor before quickly returning his attention to where it had been before.

XXXXXXX

Back in Downunda, Sonic, Antoine, and Rotor were on a stealth observation mission. Sally, via satellite transmission, ordered a strictly observation only reconnaissance which would serve to gather intel the man and weapon power the Dark Presence had in the Downunda capital, much less in the whole continent, in order to appropriately address the situation. The last thing the young queen wanted was causing more captured or dead people.

So there the trio sat beneath a cluster of rocks and boulders, watching every move made by Dark Presence foot soldiers, civilians, and POWs like hawks. The scene looked quite thoroughly like a yellow-jacket nest.

"Holy hot damn, this is tight." Rotor murmured as he spied on the area through electronic binoculars. "I'm gettin a dozen footmen on the south perimeter."

"And I'm eyeballing two teams on the central and eastern perimeter."

"Shadow ees a mad dog." Antoine commented.

"No kiddin'." Sonic mused again. "This is a text book example of overkill."

"It's probably how he's getting all the territories under his belt." Rotor added. "Your every move is being watched and you can kiss your ass goodbye if you do just one small thing they don't like."

Antoine was at a portable radio, attempting to intercept any transmission coming from the Dark Presence frequency. His eyes suddenly went wide with surprise.

"Mon dieu...I'm...I'm getting eentel zat Shadow ees returning to za territory..." the coyote rasped.

"Oh goody..." Sonic replied sarcastically. "Big Bad stripes has come to grace us with his presence."

"Are they currently inbound, 'Twan?" Rotor asked.

Antoine listened as carefully as he could into his headset and the crackling airwaves.

"I'm pickeeng up two airships zat are eenbound right now...but zey're not mentioneeng Shadow een anyway..."

"Hmph, figures." Sonic droned. "And they probably won't for security reasons."

"A logical conclusion." Rotor agreed.

Then the coyote suddenly perked up again.

"..W-wait! I have got 'em!" he exclaimed. "Shadow ees eembound on one of ze airships. Zhey'll be toucheeng down een 30 minutes."

In the far horizon, the small group could make out two airborne vehicles becoming larger and larger by the second as it neared the area. Eventually they would watch them both touch down and land.

"There's no doubt that the capital will be highly guarded at this point." Rotor deduced. "So a direct approach would be suicide considering our current numbers."

"I have to concur." Antoine added.

"Stripes must be pretty busy to do a 180." Sonic said. "I wonder if he's got some big plans for Downunda."

"Probably. Downunda is a large territory. There's plenty of resources to go around if they use them wisely."

"Which is all the more reason to give Stripes the boot."

"True, but like I said Sonic, running and gunning on this one's gonna get us even further back than square one. We need more muscle and strategy if we're gonna make a dent."

"He's right." Antoine agreed.

The cascade male fumed for a moment. He was never patient in these situations. He was never patient at all but especially during times like this.

"Let's report back to base." he finally said.

XXXXXXX

Amy found herself sitting alone in the brig of Shadow's airship rubbing her neck. Her mind was fuzzy about the last hour and a half and she almost gave herself a headache trying to process her whereabouts. The last thing the sakura hedgehog remembered was her captor pinching her neck out of nowhere. Now she found herself in a cell, alone and quiet save for the low hum of the engines. A sense of fear crept up on her that gave her quite a shudder.

Did being here mean that she outlived her usefulness-or a lack thereof? Was he taking her back to Mercia?

Before her imagination could become wild with more terrifying suggestions, her ears twitched to the sound of chatter outside the brig. It was soft and faint at first, but it got loud and clear a few moments later.

"God, I didn't imagine Downunda would be this warm during the winter."

"Yeah, but don't get too used to it. I hear the temperature's going to drop in the next few days."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

The conversation greatly perplexed the cherry-pink female.

' _What the hell did he bring me to Downunda for?_ '

"By the way, what does Lord Shadow want us to do with his little monster?"

Amy made a sour face at the legionnaire's remark.

"Keep an extra close watch on her. Don't get careless now."

"Ahh, she's just a harmless filly. What possible harm can she do to an armed guard?"

' _Wouldn't your ass like to know?_ '

"Lord Shadow says she's an ex-Freedom Fighter. I wouldn't underestimate her."

As the guards moved on, Amy took a moment to think. Why on earth did Shadow bring her all the way to Downunda and then leave her on the brig of his airship? Whatever the reason, she could recall that she had been in this area at least once or twice when she was still on active duty with the Freedom Fighters. While the young flower didn't know the territory well, she was familiar with it. If memory served her right, there was supposed to be a safe house not too far from outside the capital. The big question now was, had it been discovered and taken over the Dark Presence during the siege or had it remained undetected?

Amy didn't like the conclusions she was coming to. She must have been crazy to even think about attempting to escape here. Shadow's compound was one thing. But this was a whole different ball court. On the other hand, his men were under strict orders that she under no circumstances was to be harm.

' _Maybe...I can actually pull it off here..._ '

XXXXXXX

In a large chamber filled with computers, radars, and map charts, a troupe of legionnaires were hard at work going back and forth transmitting messages to other Dark Presence controlled territories and getting weapon systems online. Among them was Shadow, studying a holographic chart of a rather peculiar area that caught his interest.

"You had mentioned that there may be an underground safe house in this area for the Freedom Fighter cell, Corporal?" the ebony hedgehog inquired.

"There might be, sir." the officer replied. "The only proof of its existence is a small file on it deep within this network. However, it appears to be modified recently."

"Modified? How?"

"The data logs show that someone worked on it not too long ago. I imagine is that they took out vital information."

"Most likely to keep the location a secret."

"Of course, my lord."

"It is of no importance for now. It won't be long before we discover it since not very far from the capital. What of the other sector? Is it secured?"

"Under lock and key my lord. The civilians have been moved into camps."

"Good. Anything new from our _guests_ from New Mobotropolis?"

"Nothing. I can't seem to pinpoint their base. They must be using some sort of shield around it since I'm receiving a lot of electromagnetic jamming."

"As expected. I won't waste any more time or man power seeking them out. However, keep plenty of sharp-eyed snipers on the towers should they even attempt to challenge us."

"As you wish, my lord."

XXXXXXX

The ebony hedgehog's suspicions were justified on the matter of the 'safe house'. Lying just outside the capital was the elusive base, buzzing around like an agitated wasp hive. It was filled with members of the Royal Acorn army and a few secondary members of the Freedom Fighters of New Mobotropolis. Standing in command of this small but determined band was Colonel George Sommersby. Following the revelation of the Dark Presence being responsible for the destruction of the Acorn Kingdom outposts, Sommersby returned to active duty despite his age. His wife remained on Angel Island while he traveled to fill a command post in Downunda.

The aged and battle-worn colonel managed to keep a cool and level head and maintain order over whatever troops he had left. Even with the paranoid and superstitious Larry Lynx in their company. The younger troops had taken to Sommersby as a father figure, especially now. They were all eager to launch a counterattack at the Dark Presence, but presently, the colonel was more concerned with restoring contact with New Mobotropolis.

Since the assault on Downunda, all their radio frequencies were knocked out by Dark Presence interference jamming all the airwaves. That wasn't the only issue they faced. How to get into contact with home base without being detected by the enemy.

They were the last stand for the continent and from their position, possibly its only hope. It was extremely important that they remained hidden from the Dark Presence. While working on a radio signal that would not get picked up by enemy satellites, scouts went in and out of bolt holes into the surrounding terrain to make sure that legionnaires wouldn't stumble onto their hide out.

This 'safe house' was actually a rather sophisticated bunker that went down 25 feet below ground, and also appeared to be more of an elaborate bomb shelter than a house. It had an occupant capacity to hold up 1500 persons. The radio technicians were hard at work creating 'stealth transmissions' while the colonel kept an ear out on the enemy network to track their movements in order to find out what they were up to.

"Um, colonel?" a trooper called.

"Yes, Private?" Sommersby replied.

"I'm picking up something rather odd."

Sommersby approached him and took his headset to listen for himself. It only took aged soldier a few seconds to realize what it was.

"Why, someone seems to be contacting us by Morse code." he exclaimed.

"What? Who?"

"...Hrrmmm, it appears it's from Angel Island."

"Angel Island, sir?"

"Yes."

"...They sure are taking a gutsy risk contacting us directly don't you think?"

The colonel's brow furrowed a bit.

"Hmmm, the message seems to be from Knuckles."

"The guardian of Angel Island?"

"It would seem so. Private, go into vault 2 and get me a Morse transmitter."

"You're going to reply back? What if it gets picked by the Dark Presence?"

"My boy, this is where the Dark Presence fails in this matter. All of their technology is the latest state of the art. With much more accuracy, they would never think to resort back to simpler things such as this. And I doubt there is anyone there would who know what a Morse code sounds like."

Reluctantly, the trooper did what he was asked of him and retrieved an old Morse transmitter. After setting it up with utmost care, Sommersby began replying to the message.

xxxxxx

On Angel Island, Knuckles was at his mother and stepfather's house with Julie-Su and the Chaotix at his side. Inside Wynmacher's office, he used a Morse transmitter to get a message to the Downunda safe house. Meanwhile a nervous Vector was nearly sweating bullets.

"I don't like this, Knuckles." he muttered. "I mean, we're technically doing this behind Sonic, Queen Sally, and the Freedom Fighters' backs."

"It's not like we're doing anything illegal, Vector." Julie-Su replied.

"Well, we're not informing them that we've been trying to contact Downunda for the past two days and 18 hours." Espio added.

"Hush, willya?" Knuckles ranted.

He listened intently into his headset as weak beeping noises came crackling through. The rest of the group kept quiet so he could hear better.

"Remind me again why we're using an ancient piece of equipment?" Vector asked softly.

"Because it'll never get picked up by the Dark Presence's network." Julie-Su explained. "Their radios are not designed for that."

"Who knew that Wynmacher keeps antiques like this, though?" Charmy Bee piped.

"Yeah, seriously." Mighty added. "Especially when it winds up becoming handy?"

xxxxxxx

Colonel Sommersby was rather intrigued by the request of Angel Island's guardian. If at all possible, be on the lookout for a missing Freedom Fighter it said. And don't inform the Queen if this Freedom Fighter is found. The latter part of the message was rather peculiar and surprising. Surely he could not mean Sonic the Hedgehog.

' _What on Mobius could possibly be going on to make Knuckles send us a message like this?_ ' he thought.

XXXXXXX

Amy listened carefully and intently for signs of life outside the brig. She sat on the floor of her cell and prayed like hell that her captor wouldn't be the next person coming in. But given the fact that she hadn't seen him for a couple of hours, she didn't expect him to be coming back any time soon. Then her ears twitched to the faint sound of footsteps coming ever so closer to the brig. The young flower quickly splayed herself onto the floor and kept as still as she could. The next thing she heard was the door opening and someone entering. A few seconds later, to her great relief, it turned out to be a typical legionnaire.

"What the hell?!" he cried when he noticed Amy's body on the floor.

He quickly rushed to her cell and opened it to investigate. Amy continued to keep perfectly still until the legionnaire got close enough to her. Just when he did, her hands suddenly shot up like a python and grabbed ahold of his head. Amy managed to pin him before swiftly snapping his neck. Even though the act of killing went against the Freedom Fighter morale, she didn't care at the slightest for the moment.

Amy stripped him of his uniform and stole his weapon and other effects as fast as she could before his comrades could notice something amiss. Then she pushed the dead legionnaire's body under the bench afterward. The sakura hedgehog fought to keep her composure, lest she give herself away. She pulled the hood of the uniform as far down as she could so the other guards wouldn't recognize her. She cautiously ventured outside the brig and to her surprise and further relief, no one seemed to even notice her. Amy took a long breath before proceeding. Her heart was pounding so hard against her chest that it felt as if it were about to burst out. She headed towards the opening of the airship and followed the movements of the other legionnaires heading out and obtained a rifle.

Amy watched the other guards fan out and decided to go out towards the terrain behind the airship. Once she entered the foliage, she quickly disappeared into it and set off in search of the safe house.


	17. Chapter 16

**AN: Hey there, peeps. So I'm still getting reviews from people asking me to update and I apologize for not updating as often as I used to but lemme remind you guys. I am currently working and attending school and I've got a lot on my plate here. So I will update when I can get around to it. Plus it doesn't help when I have to fill in for coworkers who call out on my days off (whenever I can get them). I only have two weeks left on the quarter so after that's all said and done, I can get back to regular updating.**

 **I would also like to thank my loyal readers that have been patient during this time.**

 **So, without further ado, here's the next chapter :)**

 **Peace out!**

* * *

 **-Chapter 16-**

Amy nervously toured the prairie-like terrain with the rifle cocked and ready to fire. The sakura hedgehog was now having second thoughts about slipping away from the airship. Being out here alone made her increasingly paranoid with a lot of questions being stuffed into her brain all at once.

What if she got caught again? What would Shadow do when he realized she was gone again? He could only be pushed so far. What if this lousy freaking safe house didn't even exist? And just what the hell was she gonna do if she happened to run into Sonic? She knew the Acorn army and a few members of the Knothole Freedom Fighters were here.

Amy stopped and leaned against a tree, taking a moment to collect herself. And to make her knees stop shaking. She could practically feel her blood pressure going sky high. Even though it might have been a half hour since she staged her escape, killing that one legionnaire was already beginning to haunt her. Amy had never killed anyone or anything before, even in the heat of battle. It made her feel sick and like she was just as bad as Shadow. She slid down to the cold ground beneath her feet, letting out huff of air. As the cherry-pink female sat, she felt something small and hard in the pockets of the Dark Presence uniform she was wearing. Curiously, Amy fumbled her hand in one pocket and pulled out what appeared to be a communication radio. Or at least a Dark Presence version of one.

XXXXXX

In the Acorn encampment outside the capital, Bunnie recovered from her injury and returned to active duty alongside Antoine, Rotor, and Sonic. The whole team was waiting for an incoming transmission from the Queen. They received an update the night before about the young monarch meeting with the admiralty and generals but had yet to elaborate. Sonic, true to form, became rather impatient with the wait as Rotor and Antoine carefully set up a radio specially tweaked by the walrus.

"Are you guys done _yet_?" the Blue Blur ranted.

"Hold your horses, Sonic." Rotor ranted back. "We gotta make sure the signal doesn't get picked up by enemy satellites."

Sonic let out a huff and leaned against a nearby tree. A cold breeze blew past them, making the cyan male shudder a bit. Suddenly, a scent lingered in the air that was familiar enough to prompt him to look up inquisitively.

' _Is that...?_ '

"I've got it!"

Sonic snapped out of his thoughts when Rotor got the radio to work. The video feed fizzled with static until it cleared up, showing Queen Sally's visage.

"Hello, guys." she greeted. "How are you holding up?"

"Well, Bunnie's out of medical leave and back in the field." Sonic replied.

"Shadow's got the capital of Downunda under lock, stock, and barrel." Rotor added. "He must have done some serious recruiting because from the looks of things, it almost seems like he's got his entire army here."

"Well that's certainly a possibility." Sally mused. "Downunda is the second largest continent on Mobius."

"But wouldn't that mean he left the other territories to their own devices?"

"Qui." Antoine agreed. "Zey vould have revolted by now..."

"I don't think it matters how much mooks Stripes got." Sonic interjected. "The real question of the day is how the hell do we match that?"

"And that's precisely the matter I wanted to address." the auburn squirrel continued. "I'm bring reinforcements to the continent. We're still trying to contact the Acorn safe house."

Sonic arched a brow.

"You think that place is still _safe_?" he inquired.

"Our recon division has confirmed that it remains undetected by the Dark Presence. We've also received fragments of messages from that particular area."

"They using our codes?" Rotor asked. "It could be a trap."

"True, but our codes are unique enough so that forgeries will be recognized."

"So we sit tight for now?" Sonic asked again.

"For now, yes." the Queen replied. "I'm sure you can hold out till the reinforcements arrive."

"Well, I'm ready for a fight. Give Tails my regards, willya?"

"Will do, Sonic."

XXXXXX

Colonel Sommersby was at the radios again when most of his men stationed there were temporarily relieved of duty and inside the mess hall. He was monitoring the radio traffic for any Dark Presence transmissions or Acorn's. Then suddenly, he picked up a very peculiar signal from a Dark Presence communicator...but using a very old Knothole Freedom Fighter code. Not only that, the way the signal was being put out, sounded very frantic and desperate.

"Hmmmm..."

He wanted to believe someone on their side was out there, but it could also someone masquerading for the Dark Presence. But one thing Sommersby had to note was the code was quite unique.

' _...The Dark Presence would not know of this code._ ' he thought. ' _It's too old..._ '

The signal's location wasn't too far way either, prompting the colonel to make up his mind right then and there.

xxxxxx

Amy made a rather disappointed face when she realized that no one was answering her calls.

' _I thought not..._ ' she mentally sighed.

While the young flower wasn't really expecting anyone to respond, she still hoped. Out of anger and frustration, she threw the communicator to the ground and crushed it with her foot. Amy leaned against the tree again and slid back down to her fanny. A cold breeze blew past her causing her to shiver and hold herself to maintain body heat. At least the airship brig had heating, surprisingly enough.

' _What am I gonna do now?_ ' she thought with melancholy. ' _I'm practically lost here with no resources and nobody to have my back. And Shadow will probably find me faster than-_ '

Suddenly, her ear twitched to sound of voices. They were faint but enough to cause her to jerk up in alert. Amy scrambled to grab ahold of her rifle and held it at bay. Breathing hard and heart pounding, she tried to remain calm as the voices got louder.

"The signal's position was here before it disappeared from the radar."

"Are you really sure this is wise, Colonel? We could be discovered at any minute."

Amy's mind started to race. They didn't sound like Dark Presence legionnaires. But she couldn't trust how things seemed. There was no room for mistakes this time around. When they got closer, Amy's nerves finally snapped and blindly opened fire on the group, letting out a scream as she did. The group returned fire being nearly caught off guard. Amy quickly discarded the legionnaire robe that she had stolen earlier and took off.

xxxxxx

Colonel Sommersby was a bit winded when the gunfire erupted. He himself pulled out a pistol as his men were already going away at their own weapons. Then the old war soldier spotted a flash of sakura retreat into the terrain which piqued his interest.

"Hold your fire!" he shouted.

Sommersby chased after the figure while his bewildered men followed. With his skill in guerrilla warfare, he was able to catch up despite his age. He cornered the figure in a secluded area and once he got a good look at whom he was chasing, he found that it was a female hedgehog. Looking particularly frightened, and holding her weapon right at him, ready to fire.

' _Wait, she matches the description that Knuckles gave me._ ' the Colonel thought.

Sommersby then attained a calm demeanor and even raised his hands after discarding his weapon. It was quite clear to him that the woman in front of him was no Dark Presence legionnaire.

"Might you name be Amy Rose?" he asked quietly and gently.

The cherry-pink female emitted a light gasp and looked more distrustful and frightened than before.

"...H-how...how do you know m-my name?" she stammered.

"I am Colonel George Sommersby of King Acorn's regiment. Well, now the Queen's regiment. I heard your distress call."

Amy kept her weapon at bay. She indeed heard of him from Knuckles once or twice before. And his uniform was an Acorn Royal army officer's uniform. But she couldn't shake the possibility that this could be a trick.

"H-how do I know if I can trust you?" she whimpered. "How do I know you're not lying?"

As Sommersby studied her facial features, he could see a lot of pain and fear in her once bright jade eyes.

"Tell me something, young lady." he began. "Were you captured by the enemy?"

A noticeable shudder ran up the young flower's spine.

"...y-yes." she squeaked. "But why is that important?"

"I should tell you that the Guardian of Angel Island has personally requested of me, that I find a missing Freedom Fighter and not to inform the Queen if did."

Amy was shocked. He seemed sincere, but why would Knuckles say something like that? Then she recalled that in the last few days in New Mobotropolis, he and his team were much easier on her than her own. But why didn't he want the Queen to know?

Sommersby slowly and carefully approached the sakura hedgehog extended his hand towards her.

"Why don't you come back with us, my dear?" he said. "I think you'll do better than wandering out in the outback on your own."

Amy hesitated for a moment, still unsure of what she should do. Finally, she surrendered her weapon to the Colonel, who after inspecting it, put the safety back on and disabled it. Suddenly, Amy's consciousness began to fade as all the stress had taken its toll. The Colonel quickly caught her before she fell. His subordinates rushed in to assist him.

"It's alright men, at ease." Sommersby assured them. "Here, take this."

He exchanged the rifle to one of the soldiers and scooped Amy up, carrying her away.

XXXXXX

Shadow was busy with his underlings and securing the borders when an interruption occurred.

"Sir, you have a priority message from the airfield." said one trooper.

"It'll have to wait." the ebony hedgehog said bluntly without looking up.

"Sir, the principal is gone missing and we have a dead legionnaire in your airship."

That very statement snapped Shadow right out of his thoughts and concentration. Without another word, he marched straight out of the building and to the airfield. His airship was surrounded by armed personnel trying to investigate the incident. They immediately cleared the way for the crimson-splashed male when he came towards them.

As he entered the airship. two medics had the dead legionnaires on a stretcher and completely covered with a white tarp. They paused when Shadow approached them and lifted the tarp.

"Cause of death?" he inquired.

"His neck has been snapped." one medic replied.

Shadow arched a brow. Quite impressive he thought. For her anyway. Then he inspected Amy's cell. Her clothes were strewn across the floor.

"We also have a weapon missing, sir." another legionnaire informed him.

Shadow nodded in response. Even after all this, he wasn't angry. Not in the slightest. This whole affair left feeling surprising amused. So, is this what the young flower would amount to when pushed into a corner?

"Monitor the area and carry on." the midnight warrior declared.

"Sir?" a guard said, a little perplexed.

"She has a homing device placed on her. It won't be hard to track her down. But if she wishes to play games, then let her. We'll see how far she gets before we eventually regain custody of her."

Although the rest of the legionnaires were quite bemused, there were bigger things to focus on. Shadow meanwhile slightly grinned. This was going to be quite interesting.


	18. Chapter 17

**AN: Hey there, again I apologize this is really late. I've been so busy with work (and now school again since the winter quarter has commenced T-T) I barely have enough time to break in my new PS4 :'( A little pissed off about having to get another Nintendo console for the new Zelda game (which is why I got the Wii U last winter to begin with).**

 **Oh well that's the end of my rant. Happy reading!**

* * *

 **-Chapter 17-**

Amy felt as if she was inside a thick dark fog. Not being able to see or feel her way across it. When she finally awoke from her stupor, she felt extremely groggy. The sakura hedgehog was about to run her hand across her face when she suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice.

"Um...feeling b-better, Amy?"

Amy let out a shriek of surprise and jumped against the back wall. The other person in the room with her also jumped out of his chair in shock since he wasn't expecting her to react like that. When Amy collected her bearings, she recognized who it was in front of her.

"...Larry?" she rasped. "Larry Lynx?"

"Y-yes." her guest replied.

"Wha-what the hell are you doing here?!"

"W-well, I came here after the Freedom Fighters here d-disappeared."

"Why?"

"Well...the Queen asked m-me to. I really d-didn't want to at first though. S-since I'm such a jinx, I didn't want to cause things to s-screw up. N-now look what happened. The D-Dark Presence took over Downunda."

Amy made a face, sympathizing with him. Larry always believed that he attracted bad luck. And to his misfortune, he usually did. The commotion caught the attention of Colonel Sommersby. He politely knocked on the door before entering.

"Hello?" Amy rasped again.

"Hmm, I see you are awake now, Miss Rose." he greeted. "Might I have your permission to enter?"

Amy nodded slowly. She was rather confused by her current situation.

"Mr. Lynx, you are excused for the moment." the colonel said in an authoritarian tone.

"Yes, sir." Larry replied. "I'll u-uh, see you later, Amy?"

"...sure." the cherry-pink female replied.

As soon as he was gone, Sommersby turned over the chair that had fallen over and sat down in it. Amy's face started to turn pale.

"...don't tell me he was my warden." she whispered, dread washing over her like icy water.

"Actually, Mr. Lynx was here to make certain that no one else in the base would bother or trouble you." Sommersby assured her. "Ordinarily, I would have given the task to a female soldier but alas, you are the only lady here."

Slight relief came over Amy's worried mind.

"Then, is this the safe house I heard about?" she asked.

"Quite right, Miss Rose." the colonel replied. "But I must ask why you are here in Downunda. The last report I received mentioned that you were missing somewhere in Mercia."

Amy's face turned even paler.

"I'm an...official MIA?"

"According to the kingdom databanks, yes. I'm also quite perplexed as to why Guardian Knuckles of all people would ask me to be on the lookout for you specifically and not to inform the Queen in the event that I found you, but to report to him instead."

Amy's head was spinning now. She couldn't imagine why Knuckles would request something like that. Then again, the Chaotix as of late were much cooler to her than her own team. But for the Chaotix to act out on their own like that, did they have a disagreement with the Freedom Fighters or something?

"I...I really don't know why he would do that. I haven't spoken to Knuckles in months. Hell, I can't even remember that last time I sent him a transmission."

As the colonel studied her facial features, he could see the honesty in her words. That and she really didn't have much of a reason to lie. At least not at this point.

"So Miss Rose, just for the sake of the matter, would you kindly divulge as to how you came to be here?" Sommersby asked.

The young flower hesitated for a moment.

"Anything you say does not have to leave this room." Sommersby continued. "It will just be between you, myself, and the Guardian."

There was a grim pause, that dragged on until Amy finally mustered the energy and gut to speak.

"After...I was transferred to Mercia and Shad...the Dark Presence invaded, Rob, my cousin and the Mercia Freedom Fighters smuggled me out of the capital. I...didn't know why at first. I wandered around when I ran into the Downunda Freedom Fighters. They were there too because two of their members were missing so they were searching for them.

I decided to stay with them since being alone and chased by the Dark Presence was suicide. But then we got ambushed by them. Barby...told me to run...Colonel, what happened to them? Do you know?!"

"I'm afraid they were reported to have been killed in action." Sommersby gravely told her.

"...oh my god.." Amy whimpered before burying her face into her hands.

The colonel let her break down for a few moments before politely asking her to continue.

"...so, I ran into the woods like she told me to. I tried hiding in the hollow of a tree. Then I remembered that Rob stashed a communicator into my knapsack, so I used it to call for help."

At that point, Sommersby noticed that a restrained rage entered her tone of voice.

"Did you manage to patch through?"

"...can...can I leave this part out? I don't think I want Knuckles to know..."

"I think it would be in your best interests to explain everything Miss Rose."

He had a point. And as far as Amy was aware, who knew if it would bite her in the ass later on.

"...I called for help, and Sonic of all people answered it. I told him my situation, but...he sounded like he didn't believe me and even though he couldn't help me, it felt as if he didn't even want to. No sooner that I made the call, he hung up...and then I got captured.

"By the Dark Presence..."

"Well, yes and no. Shadow himself kidnapped me. Somehow I ended up in his private compound."

"He didn't ship you back to the capital?"

"No...and I still don't understand why he did. He said that while I was there, I was under house arrest, but to the rest of the world, I was a POW."

The colonel wracked his brain for possibilities. None of what she said about being in captivity made any sense. Perhaps the fiend held her there because of her relationship with the Mercian King, but something was telling him that this wasn't quite the case.

"There must be some reason." he probed, trying to get the sakura hedgehog onto something.

Amy was about to answer when memories of 'that night' wedged their way into her brain. She slowly wrapped her arms around herself, finding that she was becoming a shrinking violet. Now that she was back in Acorn territory somewhat, Amy suddenly felt like an unwilling traitor to her allies and it made feel very ill. Sommersby saw her turning increasingly pale and distraught.

"Miss Rose?"

"...this...this wasn't my fault...I...I tried stopping him..."

Big fat tears started pooling in her dulled jade orbs as Colonel Sommersby began to fully realize and understand her plight. He gently leaned forward towards her and took her hands into his.

"Miss Rose, did he take advantage of you?"

Amy slightly and quietly nodded, unable to speak anymore. It was like admitting it to herself what had happened to her. Seconds later, the tears came pouring down her face. Sommersby, a gentleman to the last, pulled her into a protective hug as if she were one of his own while the cherry-pink female sobbed like an infant.

XXXXXXX

Rouge sat in the dispatch wing of Haven II's Infirmary in front of a computer, bored to tears. Since nothing had really happened since the invasion in Downunda, the Infirmary was busy with patients that were already admitted. With the same cautions and warnings every day, day in and day out, she could just scream.

Then suddenly, a communicator that the ivory bat managed to hide from Knuckles and the EST vibrated on her person. She logged off from the computer, removed her headset, and got up from her desk.

"Excuse me, but I need to use the little girls' room." she sweetly purred to a nearby guard.

"Go ahead." the EST officer replied.

Rouge casually walked to the nearest bathroom without any urgency. She had come this far so the last thing she needed right now was to arouse any kind of suspicion. Once she got into the women's bathroom, she made close observations to check if anyone else was there. After being assured that she was alone, the snow-white female went into a stall and answered her secret communicator.

"This is Rouge..."

"Rouge, it's Shadow."

Her turquoise eyes widened in surprise. But after all, she had wondered when he was going to call on her.

"You've certainly picked one hell of a time to call me, mister." Rouge ranted.

"Is this line secure?" the midnight warrior asked.

"Only if nobody walks in on me. So make this quick."

"Very well. Is there anything you can give me?"

"Not really. I've been stuck inside an infirmary dispatch all this time. But it sounds like they're sending more troops to Downunda."

Rouge could tell he was brooding from the other line. It wasn't anything new he was expecting.

"I see. Then I'll leave you to your work."

The call was discontinued. Both of them knew that if Rouge stuck around and got more integrated in Haven II's society, she'd be able to learn more. She left the bathroom just as casual and calm as she did before. The ivory bat barely sat back down in her desk when Knuckles came calling.

"Rouge? Can we talk for a moment?" he asked.

"I do hope you're giving me something else to do." Rouge replied. "I'm almost losing my mind here."

"Maybe we'll discuss that later."

They walked another room that was remotely empty and quiet. Rouge wondered what he had on mind to warrant such secretive actions.

"What happened to E-123 Omega?" the crimson echidna inquired.

Rogue blinked.

"Oh jeez...it's been a while since I heard that name..." she reminisced. "If I recall correctly, he was deactivated."

"Why?"

"...you know, I never understood why they deactivated him to be honest. I suppose that when Shadow disappeared back then, they were scared that would have another weapon turn on them."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Well, things went to shit at G.U.N. when Tower _left us_. After that nothing they ever did made any sense."

"Anyway, we can reactivate him?"

"Well it's possible. But you have a few problems with that. The last time I saw that hunk of metal, he was placed in storage at G.U.N. HQ which is in Station Square and of course, last time I checked anyway, is under Dark Presence rule. Not only that, with Eggman dead you're probably going to have a hard time convincing him to join your cause."

Knuckles went deep into thought. Retrieving the living war machine would most likely be a suicide mission.

"Do you know if Shadow is aware of Omega's presence at the G.U.N. HQ?" Knuckles asked.

"Well it's possible that he doesn't." Rouge replied. "I mean, have you heard of Omega's presence when Shadow decides to wreck shit up?"

Knuckles made a face at her smart-ass tone. Of course, he hadn't but who's to say that Shadow won't eventually either discover the arsenal or get the idea to go looking for it?

' _Maybe it would be beneficial to try and retrieve Omega at some point._ ' the ruby guardian thought.

Then an EST officer approached the pair with a slip of paper in his hand.

"Sorry bother you, Guardian." he said. "But this priority message just came in for you."

"From who?" Knuckles inquired.

"I'm not quite sure, sir. This sender is anonymous."

Knuckles was a bit perplexed. Even more so when he opened the note. It was all gibberish.

"Now how the heck is this a priority message?" he ranted.

Rouge happened to get a quick glance at it and immediately recognize it for what it was.

"You obviously haven't been in spy work long enough, Knuckles." she retorted. "That's a coded message."

The crimson coated guardian blinked a few times. Now all the pig Latin started to make sense.

"How was this message retrieved?" he asked the EST agent.

"A messenger flicky was found, sir." the agent replied.

"I see...thanks."

XXXXXXX

Later on that day at the Master Emerald sanctuary, Knuckles brought the message to his team. Julie-Su also recognized it as a coded message and set about decoding the message.

"Now who the hell would send you something like that?!" Victor ranted.

"Gee Vector, I don't know." Knuckles sarcastically replied. "Maybe we'll find out once it's been decoded."

The crocodile let out a snort while shaking his head. Fifteen minutes later, Julie-Su completed her handiwork.

"Done, have a look, Knux." she said.

Knuckles' violet orbs scanned through the message which instantly caught his attention.

"Holy crap...it from Colonel Sommersby." he rasped.

"I remember that guy..." Vector replied thoughtfully. "Well what's he want?"

Knuckles kept reading, his expression turning more serious.

"...he's found Amy Rose."


	19. Chapter 18

**-Chapter 18-**

Amy was curled up into a tight ball in the room that was provided for her. It was rather small, almost like a broom closet underneath a staircase, almost claustrophobic too. Yet, the atmosphere made her feel strangely safe. The colonel's patriarch and fatherly conduct towards his underlings put her at ease. Not being judged or reprimanded for her presumed weakness put all the sakura hedgehog's fears to rest. For the moment, anyway.

Now that she was back in the home team territory, what was to happen now? They were all in danger of being discovered by the Dark Presence. Like being in a bolt hole right under the viper's pit. Sommersby had told her that he would try to contact Knuckles later, but what would that accomplish? Was the ruby echidna gonna come and pick her up or something?

A light tapping on the door brought Amy out of her thoughts and catching her attention.

"...Um, Amy?" a voice whispered anxiously. "A-are you awake?"

Amy slightly raised her head. It was Larry Lynx cautiously peeking into the room.

"I suppose I am now." she murmured. "What's up?"

"W-well, the colonel asked me to s-see if you w-were hungry at all." Larry replied with relief in his voice.

Now that the cherry-pink female thought about it, she hadn't eaten anything for a while. And now that Larry mentioned the word 'food', her stomach started to growl.

"Yeah...sure." she murmured again. "Rations I bet, huh?"

"Yep. L-lucky for us, we're w-well stocked for n-now."

The lynx had a very good point. And the scary part was, it wouldn't be very long before they started to run out, assuming they didn't get discovered by the Dark Presence or liberated by the Acorn army first.

That was another thing that put Amy off. What was going to happen to her if Acorn forces did happen to liberate them? Colonel Sommersby could only protect her for so long.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she and Larry entered the Mess Hall. In spite of the fact that there weren't very many people there, they all looked like they've been through hell and back. Amy could just feel the powerful aura of hopelessness and demoralization radiating from the whole room. It was damn near suffocating.

"Amy?" Larry called out, snapping the young flower out of her thoughts again.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I guess I dosed off..."

"It's alright. Heh, I s-suppose everybody's kinda o-out of it right now."

Amy couldn't help but notice the slight trembling that he was emitting. She also couldn't help noticing that no one seemed to be staring angrily at her like she was expecting. She wondered if they really knew about her or if Sommersby ordered them not to confront her. After Amy and Larry sat down at a nearby table, with a day's worth of rations, the anxiety was radiating off of Larry so much that Amy could no longer ignore it.

"Hey..." she said softly. "Are _you_ okay? You look like you could use a sedative."

"...W-well...I'm...I'm a little s-scared just being here..." Larry stammered.

"I'd like to think that everyone here is too."

"B-but you don't understand. I'm a jinx! Maybe if I wasn't here, the Dark Presence wouldn't have invaded..."

Although he sounded quite ridiculous, the sakura hedgehog could sense his pain. At least she wasn't the only one worrying about how her peers would regard her after all that had happened.

"...Larry, to be honest with you, I think they would've invaded regardless if you were here or not." she told him gently. "I don't think it has anything to do with you being a jinx."

"That has to be it." Larry insisted. "...I-I'm terrified just being here with all that stuff going on, on the surface."

"That makes two of us."

XXXXXXX

Shadow was alone in a cabin reserved for him on his airship looking at his laptop. On the screen was a map of the surrounding area that the crimson-splashed male profusely studied. After a few minutes of seemingly searching around for nothing in particular, a signal suddenly but weakly popped up in a secluded area. Before he could really react to it, his communicator started buzzing.

"Yes?" he answered.

"Hey, this is Rouge again. Just want to keep you updated on something quite interesting. Not much to you but still interesting."

Shadow brooded for a moment. Didn't really sound like much, but it was information nonetheless.

"Go ahead." he said.

"Well, Knuckles and his little band are planning on paying a visit to Downunda."

The midnight warrior arched a brow.

"Is that so?" he responded. "For what purpose?"

"That I can't tell you." the ivory bat replied. "This is just a courtesy call."

From the tone of her voice, it was apparent that she was unable to obtain that part of information.

"Very well. I'll be waiting for them." he told her before hanging up.

Then he went deep into thought. Shadow, as he recalled, had the pleasure of meeting the echidna a few times. And he knew that Knuckles was in control of the Master Emerald and that coming here meant leaving it unguarded.

' _Angel Island has been strictly neutral, even now._ ' he thought. ' _So, what is it that's making the Guardian change his mind? Or if he hasn't, why would he come here at all?_ '

XXXXXXX

Sonic was at the Acorn encampment with the rest the Freedom Fighters waiting for the reinforcements. He passed the time by doing short exercises, as well as keeping himself from becoming impatient. A few minutes later, a concerned Rotor came over to him from a tented computer lab and looking very bemused at a tablet.

"Hey, Sonic?" he called out.

"'Sup, Rotor?" the Blue Blur replied.

"Did you know that Knux is comin' into the area?"

Sonic blinked in surprise at this revelation.

"Where the hell did'ja hear that?" he exclaimed.

"From an EST guy on Angel Island. The weird thing is that he seems to be the only one who knows anything about it. That, and I can't get ahold of Knux or the Chaotix." Rotor explained.

"Well, if it's just one dude saying it, then it's probably a mistake. And how much you wanna bet the dude's a rookie?"

"I don't know, Sonic. He sounded pretty sure to me."

"Try getting ahold of them again and clear it up. I think he'd tell us if he decided to join us on the dance floor."

"Yeah...he would. I'll try him again.

With that, the walrus left the royal blue male to his exercises.

xxxxxxx

Deep within a dry ravine in the continent of Downunda, the Chaotix and their leader landed from use of a warp ring. The weather was indeed turning colder from the changing of the seasons. Vector, shivered from the breeze that blew past him.

"Brrrr, it's sure a good thing you made us wear heavy clothing." the crocodile whimpered. "It's freezing!"

Both he and Espio were cold blooded but Espio had a better time dealing with it due to his rigorous ninja training in his youth.

"So, what's the plan, Knux?" Mighty asked.

"For starters, I want Espio to go on ahead to observe the Dark Presence." the crimson echidna replied. "You're good with stealth cloaking, right?"

"Sure, as long as they don't have any heat-sensing devices." the violet chameleon replied.

"Which they'll probably have." Julie-Su added. "I would suggest attaching yourself to things that equal your body heat."

"With the weather being the way it is, it shouldn't be that hard, right?" Charmy sarcastically quipped.

"It'll be different, but not impossible." Espio said.

"There's just one thing that's bugging me." Vector piped in. "What are the chances of us runnin' into the Freedom Fighters? They don't even know we're here."

There was a silent pause. It was apparent that none of them thought that far ahead.

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it." Knuckles heaved a heavy sigh.

The group then set out in the rough terrain of the outback of Downunda.

XXXXXXX

Amy entered a small makeshift gymnasium alone and quietly. It was quite dark, with only one light illuminating the room. There was plenty of equipment to use including a lone punching bag for boxing. The bag's presence was enough to pique the cherry-pink female's interest in refreshing her hand-to-hand combat skills.

She took off her jacket and rummaging around for gym tape. A few minutes later, Amy commenced in a few drills that she recollected from what Julie-Su had previously taught her. Her muscles had become strained from a period of inactivity thanks to being imprisoned under Shadow's watch.

Shadow.

The very thought of him made Amy's rage burn again. Her uppercuts and jabs became harder and more violent with every passing second. The punching bag had turned into the ebony hedgehog himself in her mind. Everything went red.

She wanted to make him pay. She wanted to beat the shit out of him. She wanted to kill him.

Suddenly, a stern voice broke her imagination with a start.

"If you strike any harder, your fists will bruise, young lady."

Colonel Sommersby had been watching her for a few minutes before deciding to stop her.

"There's no sense in harming yourself over a situation that was beyond your control." he said with his hands behind his back.

"Was it?" she challenged. "There's plenty of times I wanted to murder him."

"But you did not. Why?"

That was a very good question. Why didn't she try and kill him, let alone beat the hell out of him? Well, there was plenty of reasons, Amy realized. First there was the fact that there were way too many guards around that would prevent her from doing just that. Second, Shadow himself could just as easily overpower her, and one other aspect that really bothered her.

Her family.

Amy was itching to return to them all the while getting increasingly worried that Shadow would get the idea of using them as leverage to get her to do what he pleased.

"I...don't know why..." she murmured finally, shuffling her feet. "There's so many things that are unclear to me. If anything, I think I might be angrier at Sonic."

The colonel gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Is there something else other that, that's troubling you?" he asked.

The young flower felt her stomach turn, recalling the fact that she did away with that legionnaire.

"I...I did kill somebody." she whispered.

"Who?"

"...the guard that was watching my cell. I shouldn't feel like this, but I feel really sick for doing it."

"Was that the first time you ever killed someone?"

"...Yes."

"I see. The only thing I can tell you, Miss Rose, is that we are at war. Such things are bound to happen especially if one is to ensure his or her own survival."

Amy became really upset.

"But you don't understand!" she wailed in frustration. "Killing is against the Freedom Fighter code! And doing it made me feel like I was falling into HIS level! I don't ever want to do that again!"

Now the colonel understood why she couldn't bring herself to harm their common enemy. War and conflict had certainly left its mark on her.

"Miss Rose, every soldier goes through what you're going through when they first kill someone. It's a natural reaction. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any better and the only thing you can do is to not think about it..."

"Yeah..."

Amy wasn't quite convinced. She didn't think she could ever get that out of her head ever. At least not for a long time. But the colonel did have a point about one thing. Now that she had stopped punching the bag, the sakura hedgehog could feel the pain in her fists, and started gingerly rubbing them.


	20. Chapter 19

**-Chapter 19-**

Knuckles and the Chaotix trudged through the outback as the winter wind blew past the heroes. As bitterly cold as it was, it wasn't enough to bring about any snow. The terrain was made dry and somewhat withered. Vector and Espio were having the worst of it being cold-blooded by nature, though Espio was able to cope due to his rigorous ninja training. Vector not so much.

"Cuh-Can't wuh-we stop somewhere a-and put on luh-like a fire or s-something?" the crocodile stammered as his jagged teeth chattered.

"Ugh, can't you suck it up for two more hours?!" Julie-Su exasperatedly replied.

"Well, the sun will be setting in the next 30 minutes." Mighty pointed out as Ray stuck close to him. "You think we should stop to camp for the night?"

"Hmmmmm, I'm not sure. That may not be a good idea." Knuckles mused. "Those Dark Presence goons will be on the move, won't they, Julie-Su?"

"Um, it's hard to say." the lavender echidna murmured thoughtfully. "Usually, they have most teams hit the barracks for the night while a graveyard team patrols the base. But things might have changed when Shadow put himself in charge."

"Wow." Charmy said. "Should we take that chance?"

Knuckles made a pause for a moment to think about their current situation and consider their options. There wasn't going to be any moonlight out that night, so they would be in complete darkness, but if they didn't break, they'd be fighting their own fatigue along with their enemies if it came down to that.

"...Let's see if we can find some really inconspicuous shelter before it really gets dark out." the crimson guardian finally declared.

A bout of relief and anxiety settled upon the group. This was a no win situation no matter how it was looked at. Danger was immanent whether they stopped or not.

XXXXXXX

Amy tore through the bunker halls in a sort of frenzy. When she finally came to a room she had been looking for, she threw open the door and quickly disappeared inside. Larry Lynx had been trying to keep up with her since she suddenly bolted up and out of the mess hall, turning somewhat green and pale.

"Amy?" he called out. "Amy, wait!"

After stopping to catch his breath, he hobbled to the door he had seen her vanish into only to find it locked.

"Amy?" the lynx called out again.

" _...BLEEEEEAAAAKK!_ "

Larry flinched at the sound of her retching. He had wondered why she was holding her mouth and stomach too. Now he was racking his brain as to what could possibly make her sick. Apart from him being a jynx...

"Amy, are you, um, okay in there?" he called out once more.

"...I'm...fine..." she whimpered from within before leaning over the toilet again.

"Um...do you want me to hold your hair back or something?"

"...I think I'll live."

Larry nervously shuffled his feet back and forth, patiently waiting for the sakura hedgehog to finish. Then, Colonel Sommersby came passing by from the armory with a box of ammunition tucked under his arm.

"Mr. Lynx?" he greeted, a bit perplexed to find him there. Then he heard Amy from inside the bathroom. "What's all this about?"

"W-well, Amy and I were eating i-in the m-mess hall..." Larry nervously explained while twittling his fingers. "...a-and Amy suddenly went a-a little green in the f-face, ran out...and...w-well."

The Colonel glanced at the door again, hearing Amy coughing and sputtering.

"C-colonel? Y-you don't t-think the r-rations got r-rotten, do you?" Larry asked nervously.

Sommersby furrowed his brow as he went deep into thought. Somehow, he didn't think that spoiled rations were the cause, but it wasn't too far-fetched of a possibility.

"Hrrmmm, perhaps." the bulldog replied. "I shall check the supplies just to be certain."

After he turned to leave, Amy slowly came out of the bathroom, holding her head and gut.

"Oooog..." the cherry-pink female moaned.

"Are you sure you're feeling well, Amy?" Larry asked. "I mean, you don't really look it..."

"...I think...maybe I'll go lie down for a bit." she muttered.

"Here, lemme help you..."

The lynx took hold of Amy's arm and assisted her down the halls and back into her room.

XXXXXXX

"Yo Rotor, you got a fix on Knux and his team?"

Both Sonic and Antoine were huddled around Rotor, who was typing away on a laptop.

"...Eeehh, this terrain is so dense, it's hard to pick up anything." the walrus murmured. "Not to mention the weather's not helping."

"Perhaps ve zhould vait until morneeng." Antoine suggested.

"Might as well. There's a storm system moving in eastbound, and that's gonna screw with the signal a heck of a lot worse."

Sonic tapped his feet a little impatiently.

"Meh, okay." he grumbled. "There's not much we can do since we're holed up here."

"Right. That and we have to worry about the Dark Presence lurking around." Rotor added.

Bunnie poked her head out of a larger tent a few feet away from them.

"Soup's on, fellas." she declared.

"Thanks, Bunnie." the blue blur called back.

Though none of them didn't really felt like eating at the moment.

XXXXXXX

"YOU CUH-CALL THIS SHUH-SHELTER?!"

Vector shuddered as the rest of the group huddled together around a small fire they made inside of a cave they were fortunate to find. However, it was somewhat humid and cold.

"Will you be quiet?!" Julie-Su ranted. "This is the best we're gonna get, so no complaints!"

"Both of you pipe down!" Knuckles scolded as he threw a small pile of lumber into the campfire he and Espio toiled to make.

The group eagerly scooted closer to the flames in an effort to get warm. Vector became slightly better, though it wasn't a few moments later when he started sneezing.

"Excuse me." he sputtered.

Saffron offered him a hanker as Espio turned to Knuckles.

"So, how should we proceed from here?" the purple chameleon asked.

"I'm banking on the hope that the weather holds off until we find this God-forsaken safe house." Knuckles replied with a grunt.

"Only if our luck pulls through." Mighty added.

"Hey, 'Su..." Vector called out. "How bad do you think the Dark Leg-er Presence is from how you remember it?"

"From what I can see, it looks like Shadow took the code of conduct of the Legion and ran it to the extreme." the female echidna said thoughtfully.

"Is that uh, putting it mildly or...?"

"I must wonder what made Shadow change this way." Knuckles murmured.

"Didn't he disappear after Eggman died?" Charmy inquired.

"I seem to recall that happening." Mighty recalled thoughtfully.

"Maybe his wiring got screwing up again?" Vector suggested.

"That's one way of putting it." Knuckles said. "Either way, he's creating the same atmosphere we had under Eggman, only worse. Much worse. I don't think I've ever seen a day where people are in constant fear for their lives."

"Wasn't it like that with Eggman too?" Vector asked.

"We were able to beat Eggman at his own game more often than not. Shadow's countering us at every turn." Espio interjected.

"Eeeehhh...don't remind me."

XXXXXXX

Back on the Dark Presence airship, inside of the armory, Shadow was gearing with a strike team. He had grown a little impatient in waiting for Amy to turn up via his underlings since she disappeared. The fact that the Acorn insurgency was inching ever so closely to the capital wasn't helping matters either. Acting on the weak signal he came across earlier, he decided to go after her himself. A few minutes later, another general entered the chamber after being summoned.

"We seem to have located our lost lamb." Shadow told him after being given a quizzical look. "I'll be needing you to look after operations here until I return."

"As you wish, sir." the general saluted.

"I do not expect to be gone for very long. The target's location is not far from here, but just in case, keep a reinforcement ready."

"Of course, sir."

"...This will be a good opportunity to test those stealth camo suit prototypes."

In seconds, the ebony hedgehog and his team disappeared and pulled out.

XXXXXXX

Amy was back on her bunk, curled up and feeling like complete hell. It only had been 30 minutes before that she had to empty her stomach contents again. The worst part, they didn't have a full-fledged medic in the bunker. Only a handful of foot soldiers who had basic first aid and medical emergency knowledge were present.

 _'What is wrong with me?'_ the young flower asked herself. _'I've never been this sick before...'_

Now she was taking Larry's suggestion to the Colonel about rotten rations into consideration. But there was just one problem with that. Why wasn't anyone else sick? She sent Larry away in case if she was contagious. The last thing she felt was needed was an epidemic.

Amy let out a long and heavy sigh and curled up tighter. Her entire abdomen hurt from whatever affected it and from throwing up. She drifted off to sleep, allowing the dimness of the room and the calming silence while it lasted to soothe her. She kicked off the blanket she had around her, feeling a bit warmer than usual.

 _'Great, I'm probably coming down with a fever...again...'_ Amy thought tiredly.

That was another problem. She wasn't even sure if there was any medicine supplied on the bunker. Then, the sakura hedgehog while trying to make herself comfortable on the cot, came across something odd. She noticed that her abdomen was getting hard. Not too hard, but certainly stiff.

 _'That's weird...I wonder if that's a symptom for stomach flu. Maybe I'll ask the colonel later...'_


	21. Chapter 20

**-Chapter 20-**

As the morning broke the next day, Knuckles and the Chaotix were already back on their way towards their destination. Vector was still having some trouble adapting to the cold weather. The terrain was rendered very dry due to the wind storm the night before. Crossing a rocky ravine, Knuckles suddenly caught a familiar scent in the air.

"Is that laser fire?" he asked, perplexed.

"Sure smells like it." Julie-Su replied after she herself inhaled the air around them.

"If there's laser fire, then we'd better get movin'." Vector added, a little sternly.

"Vector's right." Espio concurred. "We don't have any way of knowing if Amy Rose is in danger or not."

"Then let's go." the crimson guardian declared.

XXXXXX

"Amy? Is it okay if I come in?"

Amy moaned as she struggled to wake herself up. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this groggy, still feeling like crap from the day before.

"Yeah, sure." Amy croaked.

Larry meekly entered the room and quickly became concerned when he saw the cherry-pink female in the state she was in. She did not look well.

"Um...still n-not feeling well?" he asked softly.

"A little." Amy murmured. "Just keep your distance, okay?"

"Y-yes, ma'am."

He sat a little farther away from her as she dragged herself out of bed. Sitting up made a painful jolt to her stomach, causing her to hold it and let out a groan of pain.

"Are you s-sure, you're o-okay?" the lynx asked again.

"...yeah...I'm fine." Amy muttered.

This wasn't queasiness like before, this was like muscle pain. As if she had a done a whole routine of Pilates after not exercising for a long time.

"I don't suppose the Colonel had found anything..." Amy continued.

"N-no, I don't think so a-anyway." Larry replied thoughtfully. "Though, I-I kinda have to a-admit that I haven't b-been really paying a-attention."

Amy let out a scoff and rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes. Of course, rations should be the least of everyone's worries. Suddenly, Larry's ears perked up, something grabbing his attention.

"What's that sound?" he asked inquisitively.

Amy perked up her own ears in an effort to listen to what Larry had heard. At first, she couldn't pick anything up. Then she found it. It was a whistling noise that was getting louder and louder. Her jade eyes widened in horror once she realized what it was.

"A-amy...?"

"LARRY, GET DOWN!"

The young flower flung herself around him before the entire bunker violently rocked back and forth seconds later. Dust and rubble fell from the ceiling of the room and the lamp swayed back and forth. Both Amy and Larry remained still on the floor until they slowly rose up.

"Are you alright?" Amy rasped quietly.

"I-I think s-so..." Larry shakenly replied.

Amy got to her knees and quickly checked the lynx for injuries before examining herself. Apart from a few cuts and being doused with dust, they unharmed for the most part.

"C'mon, we need to get out of here fast!" she told him.

Grabbing ahold of Larry's hand, Amy yanked him into the hall where they were met with total chaos. Soldiers were running around the bunker trying to find weapons and man their stations with the higher ranking officers barking out orders left and right. Then another explosion shook the bunker to its very foundation making more debris fall from above.

"W-we better f-find Colonel S-sommersby!" Larry exclaimed.

' _If he's even still alive after all this..._ ' Amy thought cynically.

XXXXXX

Knuckles and the Chaotix edged closer to their intended point of arrival when they stopped dead in their tracks, from the sounds of bombs dropping and gunfire.

"Oh crap." Vector said. "Sounds like someone just beat us to the punch."

The team cautiously took cover while Julie-Su pulled out a pair of electronic binoculars. Through the lenses, she saw a large group of legionnaires surrounding to what appeared to be a subterranean entrance.

"From the looks of things, it's a strike team." she told the others. "It seems like they've found the safe house we heard about in the Colonel's last transmission. If we're going to get Amy, it's now or never."

"Right." Knuckles replied with a determined look on his face. "Let's go, Chaotix!"

xxxxxx

Sonic was snoozing in a hammock along with Antoine and Bunnie when Rotor came running into the tent.

"Guys, wake up!" he cried.

"Errmmm...was is it, Rotor?" Sonic drowsily muttered.

"I'm getting distress signals left and right." the walrus explained, almost out of breath.

"From where?" Bunnie inquired.

"About twenty miles away from our position."

The Blue Blur made a rather quizzical look.

"There isn't another camp out here with our guys is there?" he asked.

"Vell, zere's za safe zat's outside zee capital." Antoine replied.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that. Any way we can respond to that?"

"Well, we've got plenty of resources and man power to address the situation but it could be risky." Rotor told them.

"We can't let 'em take the safe house fellas." Bunnie protested. "We just can't."

"She's right." Antoine added. "Vho knows vhat vill happen eef zey get zere hands on compromiseeng Intel?"

A few moments went by as they procrastinated on what they should do about the situation at hand.

"Alright Freedom Fighters, we've got a mission to do." Sonic declared.

xxxxxx

Amy and Larry managed to reach the main control room of the bunker where Colonel Sommersby was supervising a few guards sending out distress calls over the radio.

"Colonel, what the hell is going on?" Amy cried.

"We've been discovered, Miss Rose." Sommersby told her plainly. "We're trying to hold them off until we can evacuate the wounded."

"Anything we can do?"

"Unfortunately not, Miss Rose. If you wish join the evacuation teams, I would strongly suggest you do so now."

Amy seemed to acknowledge him at first but then she recalled all the times she had been on the run and how it turned out for her.

"No, I'm not going anywhere." the sakura hedgehog replied defiantly. "I'm done running."

"Are you certain, Miss Rose? Don't forget you may have a condition."

"I don't care. I'll deal with it."

The pitfall furrowed his brow a little. He had suspicions about her 'health', but without any viable medical supplies available, there wasn't a way to know for sure.

"Very well then, Miss Rose."

There was a pause before Larry made up his mind as well.

"I think...I think I'll s-stay t-too." he stammered while trying to sound bold.

"There's a crate next to the console one the left that contains weapons." the colonel told them. "You'd best go and collect them."

Although Amy was reluctant to even use fire arms because of the Freedom Fighter code, she went for them anyway. As the colonel put it earlier, this was war, full out war and on a more serious note than the one they fought with Eggman. Inside the crate was small pile of rifles. Larry looked as if he had never handled one before and he probably didn't. Amy herself was unfamiliar with the weapon, but she was a quick learner. Another bomb rattled the bunker, now causing ceiling to fall and crash onto the mainframes and consoles. Sommersby rose from his seat and began fumbling into his coat for something.

"Men, we're pulling out." he declared to the guards at the consoles. "There's no more we can do here."

The guards acknowledged him with a nod and departed to join their comrades in the halls. Then, Sommersby pulled out a pistol from within his coat and emptied it on the last remaining console.

"What was that for?!" Amy cried, a little flustered.

"To protect the data within the hard drive." the colonel explained. "A backup of it was already uploaded to the net in New Mobotropolis, so the boys back at home will be the only ones with access to it."

It took a moment for the cherry-pink female to process what he had said before it all made sense. Because it was becoming increasingly clear that the Dark Presence was intent on taking the safe house come hell or high water, they wouldn't be able to obtain any valuable information with the hard drive damaged beyond repair. Both Amy and Larry promptly followed the mobian bull dog through another hall that had rubble littered all over the floor. Sommersby found an intercom mic and immediately relayed a message to his underlings.

"Attention, all personnel!" he bellowed. "Seal all entryways and retreat! Abandon your posts-"

His message was cut off by another bomb landing right above them. Amy quickly grabbed ahold of his arm, and yanked away from the fast descending debris. She and Larry cough and sputtered from the dust that arose.

"Thank you, Miss Rose..." Sommersby grunted. "But I wasn't quite finished.."

"That pile of rocks could've been you!" Amy cried, flabbergasted.

"D-don't you t-think we s-should get out of h-here now?!" Larry exclaimed.

"Of course, Mr. Lynx." the colonel calmly replied. "Follow me."

After collecting themselves, the three headed towards an alternate route in the hallway. It was rather dark because of the failure of the electric systems from damage. They managed to find their way out of the bunker where they were met with a cold, dry wind. Larry shivered right down to his feet from the air.

"Where do we go from here?" Amy asked softly.

"I have received word from our allies that there is a camp not too far from our position towards the west." Sommersby told her. "I've also received a report that we have reinforcements on the way. We will proceed north east."

"...Why in that direction?" Amy asked again, a little confused as north east was almost the complete opposite direction.

"The guardian of Angel Island and his men are on their way from there. I fully intent on entrusting you to them."

Amy bit her lip slightly. Even though she was relatively on good terms with the Chaotix, what was going to happen after that? She greatly appreciated Knuckles vouching for her, but did the Freedom Fighters know anything about this? And if not, would shit really hit the fan when they found out?

The environment around them was eerily quiet in spite of the raid that was in action no more than two miles away. It made Amy and Larry-most especially Larry-anxious and nervous. But they kept it together in order find their way to safety.

xxxxxx

As his strike team relentlessly raided into the assaulted bunker, Shadow watched quietly from a few feet away. He focused an all the entrances his men managed to find, patiently waiting for them to turn anything up. He pulled out a portable tracker to assure himself that his target was in fact here and not just a glitch in the system. Unless his ruby orbs were fooling him, the signal was now two miles away and slowly but surely gaining distance.

' _Dammit..._ ' he mentally growled. ' _I've underestimated her. But no longer._ '

"Alpha, come in." the crimson-splashed male spoke into a radio.

"Yes, sir!" a voice crackled in response. "We have secured the complex, sir. But Acorn forces have been alerted and their reinforcements are inbound."

Shadow paused for a moment.

"Any useful data?" he inquired.

"Unfortunately not, sir. They've destroyed all the mainframes and I don't think we'll have any time to recover any fragments if any."

' _Clever..._ '

And if there were any fragments left, they're probably weren't worth the trouble.

"Don't concern yourself with it then. Target had fled the premises and it outbound north east."

"Understood, sir."

As soon as Shadow put away his radio, he teleported away. He wasn't going to take any chances with this.


	22. Chapter 21

**=Chapter 21=**

Colonel Sommersby, Amy and Larry continued their trek through the uneven terrain. Poor Larry was becoming increasingly exhausted from the hike to a point where Amy had to help him around.

"Colonel..." she called out, almost out of breath. "How much farther?"

"We're almost at the rendezvous point, Miss Rose." Sommersby told her. "Don't get discouraged."

They trudged onward a few feet more until Sommersby suddenly froze in place.

"What's-"

"Hush."

Amy was confused as to why he had stopped, but it was apparent that something wasn't right. Her body tensed up to what could possibly be lurking about in the trees, shrubs, and bushes around them. After a few seconds, the colonel cautiously moved on.

"Let's move quickly, men." he whispered.

Amy and Larry in spite of being exhausted tried to follow suit. Then a rather large chaos spear tore at them from afar. The trio barely had time to duck and get out of the way. By the time they collected themselves off the ground, an all too familiar face stood on a giant only half a foot a yard away.

"I do hope you enjoyed the outdoors, Rose." the ebony hedgehog murmured with malice in his voice.

Before Amy had time to react, Colonel Sommersby yanked her behind him and discharged his weapon at Shadow. Amy fell right on her fanny from the force of being pulled away. Larry made a timid motion towards her.

"Don't!" the sakura hedgehog cried at him. "Stay back!"

Larry didn't need to be involved in this she thought. The lynx nervously complied and quickly ran for the nearest cover he could find. Meanwhile, Shadow was somewhat gracefully avoiding every shot fired at him via teleportation. Despite his skill in sharp shooting, the colonel couldn't seem to hit his mark. Finally, Shadow got close enough to Sommersby to implement close quarters combat. The bulldog was barely able to match him because of the midnight warrior's unnatural speed, which was starting to wear him down. Amy with horror, could see where this was heading really fast. Finally, the colonel was knocked down but before Shadow could finish him off, Amy let out a yell of fury and dove at him.

Slightly caught off guard, Shadow nevertheless took the cherry-pink female on. Despite the fact that she was still in pain from her abdomen, she wasn't going to let him harm another soul because of her again. Though she wasn't quite skilled in close quarters combat, she gave it her all. Shadow was a little impressed, but his patience was wearing thin. Amy and the colonel were wasting valuable time with the Acorn reinforcements were due in at any given moment. Not only that, he was trying very hard to restrain himself against his current opponent. Finally, their hand to hand duel came to a stalemate when Amy out of pure luck, managed to grab Shadow by the arm and throw him over her shoulder. Now caught completely off guard, the crimson-splashed male tumbled to the ground beneath him. Amy got ahold of the rifle she took from the bunker and pointed right at him.

"...wuh...We...are leaving..." she rasped nearly out of breath. "I'm...not..going anywhere...with _you_!"

But she had made a grievous error. Had she just continued to pummel her opponent and make a run for it with the colonel and Larry, she might have gotten away along with companions. However, Shadow, being built the way he was so long ago, was able to recover quickly. Instead of going straight at her, he slowly got up staring like a hawk at her. Amy returned the stare in an attempt to show that she wasn't intimidated by him. But this was a trick. Shadow slowly approached her to which the young flower tightened her grip on her rifle. Colonel Sommersby, having recovered from getting his ass handed to him, suddenly realized what Shadow was getting at.

"AMY ROSE!" he shouted.

It was too late. Before Amy knew it, Shadow teleported away and reappeared right behind her, rabbit punching her neck promptly thereafter. The stunned Amy fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Shadow approached her again, ignoring the injured bulldog struggling to intervene.

"SHADOW! YOU BASTARD!"

Knuckles' voice suddenly shouted out, breaking the brief silence in the air. However, the midnight warrior had what he came for. He had no further business here. Before Knuckles even got a chance to take Shadow on, Shadow teleported from the area completely with a stupefied Amy in tow. Leaving the guardian of Angel Island to plop into the ground where Shadow once stood. The rest of his team just barely caught up to their leader.

"What happened?" Julie-Su exclaimed.

"Son of a bitch got away that's what." Knuckles growled.

Espio and Mighty quickly saw Colonel Sommersby and helped him up. Vector noticed Larry quivered in the bushes almost afraid to come out.

"Larry?" Vector called out. "Is that you?"

The unfortunate lynx was beside himself, muttering that this was all his fault and that he was a jinx.

"Well, it's Larry alright." the crocodile continued awkwardly. "I think we're gonna have to give him a sedative or something."

"Wait a minute, where's Amy?" Julie-Su asked, when it was quite apparent the sakura hedgehog was not among them.

"Shadow took her." Knuckles groaned as he helped Mighty and Espio with Colonel Sommersby.

"Then we should probably clear out of here before that slippery bastard decides to come back with a lot more guys." Vector cautioned.

"If I may, gentlemen." Sommersby finally said. "There's a few things you ought to know regarding Miss Rose and why it's paramount that she's recovered. Assuming of course, if the beast doesn't decide to kill her."

That instantly caught Knuckles' attention.

"Well, we've got at least five minutes." he said. "So just give me a quick run down."

The injured colonel wheezed a chuckle.

"I don't believe you'll have to worry about him returning to either capture or kill us. But I'll get straight to the point. And I must insist as you have, that this remains strictly between us."

"You can count on it."

XXXXXXX

The Freedom Fighters and Acorn reinforcements poured into the area surrounding the safe house prompting the strike team to pull out. By the time they could reclaim the bunker, the damage had already been done. Most of the soldiers that were able to retreat, reported to other Acorn bases and anyone who remained were either dead or close to it.

"Crap, this place is a mess." Sonic grimaced.

"Could be worse." Rotor said.

"Well, let's see what we can salvage and who we can rescue beneath all the rubble."

As afternoon turned to evening, the bunker proved to be more compromised than they thought, forcing them to send Queen Sally a recommendation that it be decommissioned. At least one third of its occupants made it onto the casualty list. Mostly everyone else was accounted for, save for a few who were still missing.

"Sonic..." Antoine called out. "Zere's still one Colonel Sommersby zat ees unaccounted for."

"And I'm getting word that he headed northeast from here." Rotor added, tapping his headset radio. "Along with two other people."

"Right. 'Twan, you and Bunnie cover things here." Sonic directed. "Rotor and I will see if the good Colonel is still with us."

Then, both the cerulean hedgehog and the tech wiz walrus took off on a small trail in search of the missing soldier.

"I don't like this." Rotor commented.

"What? That Shadow's a whack job?" Sonic replied nonchalantly.

"Well, apart from that. I had no idea that Colonel Sommersby was still in active duty. I mean, shouldn't he be in retirement age by now?"

"Maybe he loved the military so much he couldn't leave it."

"That's one way of putting it, I suppose. But still, something about this is a lil' strange to me."

"Let's just hope the guy is still breathin' and ask questions later."

"Right."

XXXXXXX

Knuckles was deeply brooding while the rest of the Chaotix-except for Julie-Su who looked thoroughly pissed-were awkwardly trying to absorb all that they had heard.

"So, you can plainly see the dilemma you and I are facing, guardian." Sommersby told him.

The crimson echidna furrowed his brow. In spite of the fact that this wasn't her fault, Amy sure found herself in one hell of a compromising decision. He wasn't so sure if she should be returned to Acorn territory. Especially since Sally, with no offence to her, might take things completely the wrong way.

"Colonel, your wife is still on Angel Island, right?" Knuckles asked.

"I should hope so." the bull dog replied with a grunt.

After a few more seconds of contemplating, Knuckles made up his mind on what he would do next.

"We're taking them both with us back to the island." he declared.

Vector blinked.

"Seriously?" he sputtered. "You think that's a good idea?"

"Unless if the colonel disagrees..."

"I have no objection." Sommersby said quietly. "To be honest, I have been facing imminent decommissioning."

"Then that settles it."

Larry shuffled nervously behind Mighty. He just knew things were about to get worse. The guardian of Angel Island pulled out his warp ring turning its destination to home on the other side. Just as Sommersby, Larry and some of the team members went through the portal, Sonic and Rotor appeared.

"Knux?"

Julie-Su, Espio and Vector-who hadn't crossed over yet-cast somewhat nervous glances at their leader but Knuckles didn't seem perturbed by it.

"Go on, I'll handle this." he told them.

The trio reluctantly heeded him and passed through the warp ring. Knuckles stood in front of it with his arms folded and looking as stern as ever.

"What's this all about, Knux?" Sonic inquired. "You come to Downunda and not tell us about it?"

"We were sent for." the crimson echidna simply replied.

"By Sommersby?" Rotor asked, a bit confused.

"Yup."

"What for?" Sonic asked.

"That's between him and us."

The response slightly ruffled Sonic's indigo fur, leaving him feeling rather peeved.

"So, is this your way of tellin' me that you guys are in the game now?" he asked pointedly.

"Partly. We're doing this on our own terms." Knuckles told him.

"Alright, what gives, Knux?"

"The situation here got a little complicated, Sonic. That's why we're taking the colonel and Larry with us."

"Larry?" Rotor piped in. "You mean Larry Lynx?"

"Whoa Knux, you can't just up and take custody of an Acorn colonel without telling Sally."

"I can if he's an unwitting asset for the Dark Presence."

"Okay, now you've lost me."

That was when Rotor really stepped in, sensing that a fight might break out between them.

"Erm, I think what Knuckles really means is that if Colonel got captured today, the Dark Presence could've forced him to give up info on Angel Island. So, it's probably best if he stays there." the walrus explained.

"Precisely." Knuckles nodded. "Angel Island can hold its own against Shadow and his newly branded thugs but not if people with certain secrets are abroad."

The Blue Blur and the Rad Red stared each other down for another few minutes with the hedgehog suspecting something else was going on and the echidna standing his ground.

"Fine, but I expect you to explain this to Sally." Sonic finally said, backing down.

"I'll send her something." Knuckles told him.

With that, the guardian went through the warp ring before it vanished into thin air.

"I don't like this." Sonic growled. "Something stinks."

"Maybe." Rotor replied. "But there's nothing to gain from pissing him off, Sonic. I'm pretty sure he's got a good reason for doing this. I'm also pretty sure our Queen can work this out."

The cerulean speedster let out another low growl to himself. Something was definitely up.

XXXXXX

Amy slowly and sluggishly regained consciousness. The first thing she found was herself lying on a cot. The low hum of an airline engine filled her ears. It didn't take long for her to find that she couldn't physically move around much. Once her vision was nice and clear, she realized that she was back on the Dark Presence airship. But her surroundings didn't look like the brig at all. The sakura hedgehog tried moving around again, but couldn't. That was when she felt shackles on her wrists and ankles, leaving her immobilized.

"Don't even think about it."

Amy nearly jumped when she suddenly heard that dark and harsh voice break the silence. Then it hit her. This was Shadow's cabin. Apparently, he didn't trust her to be in the brig by herself. Not that she was in a position to blame him. She moved around a little more but not by much because of the shackles. Amy let out a moan, feeling stiff and pained from her wrists, ankles, and neck. She felt like a wreck. Her ear twitched to the sound of footsteps coming towards her and then felt extra weight on the cot. Shadow had sat down beside her and placed a hand on her neck, making her freeze.

" _You_ are not going anywhere." the crimson-splashed male told her in a quiet and serious tone. "So, don't even try it."

Quite honestly, Amy was ready to raise the white flag in defeat. It became clear to her that she was never going get clear away from him. Not unless she was lucky enough to have him killed.

Which at this point would probably never happen.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Amy laid limp on the cot as he started stroking her quills. Then he silently leaned over and got her in a lip lock. And the strangest thing was that she didn't resist him this time.


	23. Chapter 22

**=Chapter 22=**

 ***3 Weeks Later***

After days of sitting in front of a computer screen, Rouge was finally allowed to walk freely around Angel Island. But even with this new freedom, the ivory bat still found herself feeling bored and like a caged bird. The EST had closed the borders of the island so no civilians were allowed to leave or come through for security reasons. This left Rouge thinking that this had better be worth the trouble spying for Shadow. At least it got the Chaotix off her back a little, which gave her more opportunities to make a number of stealthy phone calls.

"And on top of sealing off the borders, they've got a curfew running." she said into her comm. "I'm not sure if I'll be of any further use to you. Even contacting you is starting to become a real chore what with trying to keep the monitors off my back."

"There's not much intel I can gather from you that'll make much of a difference anyway." Shadow replied to her. "I imagine it won't be long until the denizens of Angel Island break their neutrality."

"Long? They're already mobilizing some of the EST, honey."

"Which is expected. They're preparing for any... _sudden attacks_."

"So, what, are you going to fight a war on two fronts?"

"I'm making certain that it doesn't come to that. I have my forces stretched out enough as it is. Until I can be sure that I can firm holding on Downunda, I'll be keeping much of my focus on those wretched Acorns. I don't need to worry about the Master Emerald for now. I'm quite sure that I can count on its guardian to keep it safe for me."

Rouge had to smirk.

"Putting Angel Island in a false sense of security, are we?" she asked with a slight purr in her voice. "You're cruel, handsome."

"To an extent, yes." Shadow replied. "Which is why at this point, it's best for you to remain on the island and continue to be my eyes and ears. Originally, I was going to have you move on to the Mainland, but it's too risky for that now and it'll do me no good to have something unfortunate befall you."

"That's a real shame there, handsome. I'm getting a little bored here."

"Eventually, I will relieve you. That I can promise."

"You should know that Knuckles is seriously thinking about retrieving an old friend of ours from storage."

That stumped Shadow for a moment. What 'old friend' could she be referring to? Then it hit him.

"...E-123 Omega?"

"Correct."

The midnight warrior narrowed his blood red eyes.

"He's currently in storage?"

"Yyyyup. It's the same thing I told our dear guardian friend, I caught wind that poor Omega got deactivated and left in G.U.N HQ."

"Indeed?"

"Indeed-y do."

"I see. I'll have to contact you later, Rouge."

The snow-white female then heard the other line click off before she had a chance to say another word. She let out a groan in annoyance at the fact she was now stuck here.

' _What a pain in the ass. What am I, his errand girl or something?_ '

XXXXXX

No sooner than Shadow disconnected his comm, his ear twitched to the sound of retching down the hall. Heaving a deep yet quiet sigh, he knew it could've come from only one person. It was the third time that day and the tenth time that week. Although Amy Rose appeared to be physically healthy, the fact that she was throwing up this much was a cause for concern. Not only that, she had been getting pale and been sleeping more often than usual. He had been hoping it would pass like before, but now he would have to seriously consider getting one of the Dark Presence physicians to examine her.

When Shadow walked into the master bedroom, Amy weakly stepped out of the bathroom slightly clutching her throat. He glided towards her side, and wrapped an arm around her waist to support her while helping her sit down. As he did so, he noted on how hard and somewhat warm her abdomen felt.

' _...Odd_.'

As much as he was perplexed, he really didn't like it. Amy hissed a little in pain, but was relatively nonresistant to his advances.

Though she still wanted more than ever to be free of Shadow, she conceded to his will for now. Only doing so to protect her family back in Mercia. Shadow hadn't threatened them yet, and she wanted to keep it that way if she could.

Now she was starting to wonder if she really caught something that would really do her in this time. Shadow scooped her up and laid her down in bed. Amy hung limp in his arms, feeling like total hell.

' _I think I can safely say that this asshole will be the death of me._ ' she thought with melancholy.

The crimson-splashed male carefully tucked her in. Amy didn't hesitate to lie down and attempt to catch a few Zs. At least then Shadow would leave her alone for a bit. She let out another moan when she felt pain in her midriff. Shadow sat down beside her and gently got a handful of her quills before nuzzling her neck. Amy lowered her ears in submission and let him near her. A few moments later, she let slumber take her over again.

XXXXXX

Monkey Khan stood tall on the roof of the Temple of the Golden Lotus in Stormtop Village. Like many other leaders of the yet to be invaded regions of Mobius, he was understandably nervous about the Dark Presence and their leader. Although he would prefer to maintain the peace in the Dragon Kingdom, as he had been dealing with the Four Houses and their constant conflict with one another. Well...perhaps just three. Through Espio's help and interventions, his clan, the Shinobi which was led by his mother, the Bride of Constant Vigil, became a willing ally to join Khan's cause to bring an end to the rivalry.

Even so, he couldn't disagree with Sally when she pointed out to him that it would only be a matter of time before the Dark Presence would invade the Dragon Kingdom since Shadow made it very clear that he aimed for world domination. If Robotnik could be successful to take over the region, there wasn't any doubt that Shadow could do just as easily. There was also another problem to worry about. The Raiju clan has had a previous association with the Dark Presence when they were under Robotnik's employ. Who was to say that the Bride of Conquering Storm wouldn't realign with them?

 _'However, due to the way Sally describes this...this creature, I don't think Conquering Storm will be able to manipulate him the way she had done with Robotnik._ ' the chimp thought.

Just then, Li Moon joined Khan on the roof.

"Ken, you have another transmission from the Queen of New Mobotropolis." she told him.

"Thank you, Moon." Khan replied, promptly turning to leave before pausing. "By the way, how is Li Yuen doing?"

The vixen's dutiful expression turned anxious.

"I've been keeping watch over him all day." she whispered. "I'm not sure if he's getting better."

"Don't worry." Khan reassured her while placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "I know he'll recover."

The pair went inside the temple where the King of the Free People took the message.

"This is Khan."

"Hello, Ken." the auburn squirrel said.

"Hello, Sally." Khan replied. "How are things on your end?"

"They could be better or worse, honestly."

"I received word that Downunda was lost."

"For the most part, yes. The Freedom Fighter branch there is gone too."

A twinge of guilt came across Khan's features.

"I'm sorry, Sally."

"Shadow is really proving himself to be far worse than Robotnik."

"Well...in my case, I'm not so sure yet."

The chimp shuddered when he thought of the experimentation he was forced to endure when the tyrannical robot maker had hold of the Dragon Kingdom. Hearing of people getting killed made him wonder if that was a more merciful release than experimentation. Sally quickly caught on to what he was hinting at.

"Believe me Ken, you would. I'm getting reports of my soldiers getting tortured in...grievous ways."

Khan noted the disgust and fear in her voice in a way he never heard before. That was when he realized just how serious the situation was, the invasions notwithstanding.

"What can I do, Sally?" he asked with a heavy sigh.

"If it's possible, unite the clans to protect the Dragon Kingdom." the young queen replied.

"That's a tall order. Especially with the Yagu and Raiju clans."

"I know. But Shadow will be coming for you and the region will be finished if he manages to get a foot hold."

"And there's a no doubt that Conquering Storm will try and join him."

"Even if she does, he won't really let her have free reign over the region. Shadow's not as foolhardy as Robotnik."

"I'll see what I can do, Sally."

"Thank you, Ken. And please be careful."

XXXXXX

Amy was a confused and almost nervous wreck. She was woken early that morning by Shadow who made her dress and follow him to an armored truck waiting outside the mansion. After 20 minutes of not having a clue where she was being taken and being somewhat unnerved by being virtually surrounded by Dark Presence guards (and the fact that she was cuffs), it finally stopped. They all arrived in the outdoor gate of a building complex which took Amy a few minutes to recall it with familiarity.

The cherry-pink female had been transported to Station Square. Or rather what was left of it. From what she could see, most of the city appeared as if it was completely abandoned, rendered into a ghost town. It was mind boggling, considering that the city was once teeming with life. It sent her mind spinning as what Shadow's purpose for bringing her here was in the first place. With the heavy amount of guard around herself and the ebony hedgehog, Amy really didn't want to jump to the conclusion that perhaps her captor was actually going to have her killed. Her mind was going in eight different directions and beginning to get somewhat hysterical though she hardly knew why. Amy didn't betray her emotions in her facial expressions and tried to think rationally. Maybe Shadow was moving her because the compound got compromised or something.

The whole way into the building, Amy kept her head down and didn't bother to ask questions. Like Shadow or any of his guard would answer them anyway. A few seconds later she was herded into an elevator that promptly went up, much to her bemusement. Getting off the car, Shadow and his entourage went down a long hall and came to a halt in a large section of the building. Judging by its appearance, it was some sort of make-shift infirmary. Amy curiously cocked her head a little, wondering if Shadow had decided to have her examined by a medic.

A few legionnaires sporting medic symbols on their cloaks, scurried out into the hall in a hurry to greet Shadow. Clearly, they were not expecting him.

"M-my lord!" one legionnaire sputtered. "I wished you contac-"

"I'm here for an unscheduled procedure." Shadow interjected, cutting the physician off.

He turned and gave a hand gesture to his guard to which they promptly turned and left to the other side of the hall, leaving Amy alone with him.

"O-of course, my lord." the legionnaire replied nervously. "Ah, how can we assist you?"

"To begin with, we need to have this one get a full physical examination."

He then got ahold of Amy's shoulder and thrusted her forward. The legionnaire quickly nodded and motioned the other two behind him to which they anxiously came forward and carefully led her inside. Amy was struck to see them handle her so gingerly. Probably because they were afraid if they caused her any discomfort, they would get reprimanded by Shadow. But she didn't count her blessings just yet. They could just as easily turn on her if the midnight warrior willed it. As the other two legionnaires were preparing Amy for an exam, Shadow took their leader aside across the hall for a moment.

"I need the procedure to be as thorough as possible." Shadow ordered as he folded his arms. "I want to be absolutely certain that she is healthy."

"As you command, my lord." his underling obediently replied. "But, might I inquire the symptoms? If any?"

"Vomiting, pain in the abdomen, and various sleeping and eating habits."

The medic scratched his chin in thought.

"Well my lord, I might know what ails her, but we will certainly find out to be sure."

"See that you do."

XXXXXX

Knuckles and Espio were overlooking a small holographic display of a map detailing Station Square.

"So, here's G.U.N HQ." Espio said. "This is where the storage facility might be."

Knuckles furrowed his brow in concentration as he studied the map.

"Maybe." he murmured. "I'll get Rouge to confirm that. Maybe I can have her accompany us during the mission. Maybe."

The lavender chameleon slightly made a face.

"Don't think Julie-Su will be happy to hear that."

The crimson guardian rolled his eyes.

"Well I'm not wrong." Espio continued with a shrug. "And to be honest, I'm not really sure if I can trust Rouge either."

"I'd like to give her the benefit of the doubt." Knuckles replied. "But then again. she hasn't really gone through the effort of making herself trustworthy either."

"If it makes you feel any better, I can tail her."

Knuckles went deep into thought.

"No, I need you on the team." he said. "I could have Remington keep an eye on Rouge."

"If you insist."

"This mission needs everybody and I _mean_ everybody."

A few seconds later, Charmy came flying into the room with a nervous look on his face.

"Um, Knuckles?" he called out. "Sorry to interrupt, but Queen Sally's on the line for you again."

Both Espio and Knuckles grimaced. The ruby echidna had been ducking Sally's transmissions for the past few weeks.

"Tell her I'll get back to her as soon as possible." Knuckles told him.

"That's what you told her the last time." Charmy sighed. "And the time before that."

"I know, Charmy. Tell her that we're a bit on the edge because of all the Dark Presence ruckus."

"Well, okay."

The mobian bee flew away to make good on Knuckles' orders, albeit reluctantly.

"You can't keep avoiding her, Knuckles." Espio said in a low voice.

"Yeah, I know. I'm trying to buy enough time to get this matter resolved before Acorn comes sniffing around."

"You sound a little bitter..."

"The truth is, I have no idea what'll happen if that government of Acorn's manages to get ahold of _her_ before we do. I don't like the odds."

"Neither do I, but let's not allow this to cloud our judgement. We need to be the better person here."

"Yeah..."

XXXXXX

Shadow waited impatiently for the medics to finish their tests. He kept himself busy by reading incoming reports from Mercia and Downunda via an electronic tablet. Finally, after an hour, the lead medic came out with his report.

"My lord?" he called out. "Thank you for your patience, and we believe we have conclusive results."

"And?" the crimson-splashed male inquired.

"Ahem, the subject appears to have been fertilized for quite a few days. There are two separate chromosomal patterns inside her abdomen with cellular duplication at normal levels of the gestation period."

His answer seemed to fly in Shadow's face as gibberish.

"...Meaning?"

The legionnaire blinked a few times with a flustered expression.

"Why, it means the subject is expecting twins, my lord."


	24. Chapter 23

**-Chapter 23-**

Shadow almost didn't hear what the medic had said. Twins. And they were his. Of course, they had to be.

"You're...quite certain?" he asked, almost stammering.

"There's no mistaking it, my lord." the medic replied politely and as impressively as he could. "Given the subject's symptoms, they're a normal part of the gestation period."

Shadow closed his eyes to brood for a moment.

"How long will this... _gestation period_ last?" he asked again.

"Ahem, well at this rate, it will be another two months or so." the medic replied thoughtfully. "For her anyway."

Shadow's expression slightly tightened. This was completely unexpected. He never knew that his creator, Gerald Robotnik, had built him with...reproductive capabilities. And in two months was rather mind boggling and it changed a lot of things. Now he would have to seriously keep her under lock and key while maintaining his conquest of Mobius.

"I see. Carry on then."

The ebony hedgehog signaled for his guard to return as Amy came out of the station a little shook up. She retook her place beside him while his entourage filed into position.

"Oh, my lord, if I may?" said the medic before they started to leave.

Shadow stepped away from his entourage to hear what he had to say.

"Ah, if you intend on keeping the twins, it is paramount that the mother is treated as delicately s possible and maintain a proper diet."

Shadow silently nodded and returned to his entourage after which they left. Amy meanwhile had overheard them talking and went partly into shock.

 _'...I'm pregnant?!'_ she thought with disbelief. _'How...how did that happen?!'_

Of course, that was a very foolish question to ask since she damn well already knew the answer. Yet she couldn't believe it. Both she and Shadow were like minded when expressing shock that he was able to sire children. Now she was a mom-to-be and extremely worried on how Shadow himself was reacting to the news. Did he want this? Was he angry, or happy about it? What the hell was he going to do to her later on? Instead of feeling relief that this whole trip was almost over, the young flower felt as bad as she did before.

XXXXXX

In the palace of New Mobotropolis, Queen Sally was going through a record of all the transmissions she made to Angel Island. She was completely bewildered as to why Knuckles wouldn't answer her calls. Sally had been trying to get ahold of the guardian since the Freedom Fighters got back home. Especially since Sonic was ranting left and right about him.

But then, Sonic and Knuckles never did get on together on certain things.

"NICOLE?" the auburn squirrel called out.

"What is it, Sally?" the electronic lynx answered after she materialized into the room.

"What's Angel Island's current status?"

"Well now, they're on high alert for obvious reasons. But they're not under threat for now."

"I have to wonder if Shadow sent agents to Angel Island."

"That's a good theory. It certainly explains why Knuckles was in Downunda."

"But that's all that is. A theory. We won't know for sure if Knuckles keeps ducking my calls."

"Are you sure he's actually ducking them? Maybe he's tied up with the Master Emerald. And it's not like he's never been aloof."

Sally let out a sigh. NICOLE had a part.

"True. But he can't keep avoiding us forever." Sally replied. "If Shadow invades Angel Island, they're gonna need back up."

"I think we ought to concentrate on Shadow alone rather than him and Angel Island at the same time. Tracking his movements will give us a better idea on where he plans to strike next. Our last report placed him in Station Square, right? We should start there."

"Yeah..."

XXXXXX

Back in the compound on the Border of Station Square, Amy was curled into a ball inside of the master bedroom-which was presently being guarded by two legionnaires out in the hall. She tried very hard to wrap her head around the new reality that she had not one but two little ones forming inside her. Although it was one of her many dreams to have a family of her own one day, she didn't exactly picture having it with a murderous psychopath. One that made just about every one of her family and friends suffer. Amy wondered if Colonel Sommersby figured it out when she was sick in the bunker. Maybe that was why he didn't want her going into hand to hand combat.

 _'Then again, it's not like I should really be this shocked.'_ she thought. _'Ultimate Lifeform or not, it was bound to happen after a one-night stand...'_

But that still didn't make it any better. Amy could feel another crying jag coming on, but wasn't sure if it was due to her current emotions...or just hormones.

 _'What the hell am I supposed to do?'_ she asked herself as she curled further into a ball.

Amy was scared of what prospects there may be if Shadow was defeated in the end and if the Acorn Kingdom came to recover her only to find her with children. The sakura shed a few tears as she hugged herself. After a short while, she wiped her face and pulled herself together. Despite how things looked, she was comforted by the fact that Knuckles and the Chaotix were out to rescue her and they might be a little more forgiving than her own team.

 _'I can't lie down and give up. I can't do that to my babies. Even if Shadow's their farther.'_

Amy sat up in bed a little, slightly moaning from the pain in her abdomen. Very wobbly, she walked towards the bedroom door and placed her ear against it. She could still hear the guards right outside quietly chattering, meaning she wouldn't be able to venture out into the hall until Shadow returned.

 _'Urghhh, dammit...'_

"So, where do you suppose Lord Shadow will conquer next?"

"There's the Dragon Kingdom, and Soumerca regions. Other than Angel Island and New Mobotropolis."

"The Dragon Kingdom will be an easy catch I wager. I heard it's been splintered amongst the clans there."

"Mmmm, perhaps. Lord Shadow will want to be sure of that after the whole Downunda affair."

"Downunda was won, was it not?"

"We had a pretty good start before those meddling Acorn fools stepped in. Now the situations at a stalemate. I hope they rot in hell."

Amy could bear listen no more. Hearing those ghouls made her feel sicker than she was already. However, it did explain why Shadow had been on the edge lately. She looked out the window of the bedroom to find more snow falling from the overcast sky. Winter was really going to be long this year.

xxxxxx

Shadow was surrounding himself with literature detailing the Dragon Kingdom and its history. Although it would seem like a cakewalk, he couldn't take any chances after Downunda. More importantly, the warring clans could potentially serve to be new recruits to remedy that situation. However, heeding a warning from Lien-Da not more than an hour ago, he would have to be somewhat careful with the Raiju clan's mistress. The midnight warrior learned from the Kommissar that the Bride of Conquering Storm could turn out to be treacherous and self-serving. Not that either of those things really mattered to Shadow, but he was inclined to take up a challenge, especially learning of her reputation.

There was however another challenge that had to be answered. What to do about cherry-pink female upstairs presently carrying his offspring. It might be dangerous to move her in her current condition. Especially now, he could not afford to have her fall ill again. Shadow had to find someone with unwavering loyalty and completely trustworthy to watch over her when he made his eventual trip to the Dragon Kingdom. He had a few ideas on some candidates. But for now, they could wait.

The day was waning fast, and Doppler radar was showing another fierce blizzard tearing its way into the area. All the personnel would now have to retire to the barracks to prevent getting caught up in it. Shadow made a mental note to better prepare his underlings for the harsh weather conditions. If it was bad here then it wouldn't be any better in the Dragon Kingdom. Leaving the computer lab, snow fell like a rain shower and piled up around him. He barely made it to the front door of the mansion before the snow pack blocked it. The Dark Presence guards there were relieved of their duties and sent off to the barracks. Shadow found his ward staring wistfully out of the windows of the French doors that led onto a balcony as if the elements outdoors were a point of fascination. She had her arms slightly around herself and shivered a little from the coldness emanating from the doors.

xxxxxx

Amy watched the snow slowly descend from the blanketed sky above. She slightly shivered at the thought of how cold it must be out there and loosely wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Suddenly, Amy felt something warm and heavy drape over her. Looking up, she saw the crimson-splashed male placing a flannel blanket on her frame and looking stern as ever.

"Come away from there." he quietly scolded.

Amy almost fired back at him but bit her tongue. Given the fact that the floor near the French doors was quite cold, Shadow probably didn't want her getting ill again. Not that she could disagree. Amy had had her fill of being sick, thank you very much. She let him take her hand and lead her down stairs. Although curious, Amy didn't really care what he was up to now. Being that she was carrying some 'precious cargo', she knew that he wouldn't harm her. Still, it wasn't a good idea to piss him off either. They came to a stop on the third floor where the kitchen and the spare sitting room was situated. Shadow placed Amy on the couch and disappeared into the kitchen. For being a basement floor, it was surprisingly warm. Even the fire in the fire place to her right didn't rescind because of the cold. From the toastiness of the room, Amy was about ready to fall asleep. A few minutes later, Shadow returned to her with a steaming bowl of soup. Amy was struck to see him present her with real food this time.

 _'I suppose this means no more rations. Not that it's a good diet for me right now anyway, since I'm eating for three...'_ she thought.

As the young flower quietly let the condensed dish run down her throat, her captor read from a book with an equal amount of quietness.

XXXXXX

To say that Dimitri had seen better days was a bit of an understatement. Although he accepted the fact that he was going to spend the rest of his days (however long they might turn out to be), he wasn't keen on the idea of taking control of what were once _his_ underlings. While the Dark Legion always had an unsavory reputation, especially when he was under the guise of Enerjak, Shadow made the chaos-infused god look like a saint.

He would have been able to say good riddance and just take his leave, but just when he thought he was through, the legion pulled him back in. Dimitri certainly did not like the idea of being under Shadow's employ, not because of any moral reasons. He had simply grown weary of the war that had initially began within his own family and wanted no further part in it. But it would seem that Shadow had some use for him. Or he had reason to worry that Dimitri would go out of his way to assist the enemy. Either way, the fully cybernetic echidna did not care. All he desired was to get this over with as quickly as possible.

Under heavy guard, Dimitri was transported to Station Square. He was a little surprise to find it almost rid of its population. But what is one to expect when a bomb large enough to decimate a small town was mishandled and detonated, effectively releasing quite a bit of chemicals into their atmosphere. It was any wonder that the area was able to recover after a short amount of time. Shadow was waiting inside of the larger skyscrapers. Once they were indoors, the ebony hedgehog motioned the guards to leave them in private.

"Well, what would the so called 'Ultimate Lifeform' want with a half mobian such as myself?" Dimitri said.

"To begin with, I do hope you won't be disappointed that I won't be giving you a leadership position." Shadow replied.

"Not to worry. I've gotten a little tired of being involved with such campaigns."

"Oh? And why would that be?"

"I've come to find it rather pointless. But let's discuss why you've _really_ brought me here."

Shadow arched a brow. The cyberized patriarch seemed insistent to get to the point which Shadow found admirable. At least he won't have any small talk to offer.

"Very well." Shadow said, tossing a file onto a desk.

Dimitri's dreadlocks, now tentacle-like tendrils reached out to pick up the file so he could examine its contents. They were designs for a fully body and slightly weaponized armor suit being built especially for him. Dimitri's eye slightly twitched, from befuddlement.

"I'm a wee bit confused here, _Grandmaster_." he said with sarcasm in his voice. "Come to assist me on that?"

"I need you to guard and protect a principal vessel for me." Shadow explained "No one, absolutely no one other than myself is allowed to be near it unless if I give specific permission and instructions."

"And how shall I know those instructions are from you?"

"I'm glad you asked that, Dimitri. I will be transmission codes to you. Daily."

"And if they do not possess these codes, I am to exercise the use of the artillery."

"Precisely."

Dimitri was quickly finding himself getting bored with this. Was that really all what the midnight warrior wanted him for?

"...There is one exception however." Shadow continued slowly, after giving some thought. "If your great-grandnephew should come calling, stay with the principal no matter what, but do not interfere with him."

That caught Dimitri off guard. Why on earth would he bring that up?

"What does Knuckles have to do with this?" Dimitri asked.

"Let's just say that I anticipate that he'll be coming after the principal in time, but will want to keep it safe as well as I."

If Dimitri had any color in him, it would've drained away and left him pale. Did this mean that Shadow had somehow gotten his hands on the Master Emerald? It would be the only reason Knuckles would come after this so-called principal vessel. The problem with that theory was that Dimitri himself didn't hear anything about that. Without the Master Emerald, Angel Island would most certainly become earthbound and any news of it would most certainly be on most people's lips.

"Well Dimitri, do I have your cooperation?" Shadow asked, suddenly breaking cybernetic echidna out of his thoughts.

"...Yes, of course."

It wouldn't do him any good to resist or turn Shadow down anyway. And the more Dimitri thought about it, he could have an opportunity to seek asylum from Knuckles since the ebony hedgehog didn't want him interfering with the guardian specifically. However, Dimitri would have to be careful. His previous stint as one's underboss left him rigged with a bomb and who was to say if Shadow wouldn't try doing the same? And he would have to buy himself some time to try and figure out what this principal vessel really was before taking this new position.


	25. Chapter 24

**-Chapter 24-**

Two weeks later, by Shadow's command, the Dark Presence went into silent running. After analyzing the environment of the Dragon Kingdom and studying how the Four House functioned, the ebony hedgehog decided to try a different strategy of invasion. Instead of a direct onslaught like before, he thought it better to infiltrate the clans with his own men. They would have to be specially trained so that they would appear more than convincing-but not too much, so it wouldn't arouse suspicion-and not become indoctrinated into the clans' philosophies. In this way, the moles would be able to report back on the best way to attack.

Another reason to go dark was to throw the Acorns off their guard and off track. The royals were already on edge after the Downunda incident. It was also an opportunity to sow discord in the morale of the Acorn forces. Shadow's thoughts on the matter were interrupted when his communicator started vibrating.

"Report." he commanded into the receiver.

"Sir, you ought to come to the G.U.N. storage facility right away." the legionnaire said in reply, prompting Shadow to arch a brow.

"For what purpose?"

"The men have uncovered some sort of robotic arsenal."

At first, it struck Shadow as odd since he failed to recall that G.U.N. even had such artillery outside of tanks. Then he suddenly remembered what Rouge had previously told him.

"And does this arsenal have an operating number?" he asked again, tightening his fist.

"We're trying to find it. It's practically covered in dust and grime."

The crimson-splashed male went into thought. It wouldn't hurt to inspect it himself.

"Get a tech team to begin cleaning and repair. I'm on my way."

The legionnaire acknowledged the order and disconnected the call. Shadow got up from his desk to head for his personal transport. He was no sooner out the door when his communicator buzzed again.

"Yes?"

"Apologies for the interruption, my lord. But General Dimitri insists he have a word with you."

Shadow slightly gritted his teeth. He had been keeping the cybernetic echidna at arm's length for the past few days as he wasn't quite ready to journey into the Dragon Kingdom yet. In short, Dimitri didn't have much to do. And the title of General was merely that. A title.

"Inform the general that I will speak with him later this evening if he shows a little more respectful patience."

"Of course, my lord."

xxxxxxx

Dimitri growled in frustration. Although he supposed that he should be a bit more patient with his new 'Grandmaster', he felt that his presence here was absolutely pointless. He'd already impressed upon Shadow that he was completely disinterested in regaining control of his old forces, so he wasn't a threat to Shadow's plans. Perhaps he felt that Dimitri would be used by the Acorns to pinpoint weaknesses but even that was stretching it. Dimitri could already see that the Dark Presence was radically different than they were as the Dark Legion. All the more frustrating was the fact that while Shadow wasn't asking Dimitri to do anything unreasonable...yet, the floating patriarch was literally sitting around doing nothing. The identification of this 'principle vessel meanwhile was beginning to be a bother to him. Chatter from the foot soldiers didn't seem to point to Shadow acquiring the Master Emerald-which provided Dimitri some relief since these guards almost bragged about everything-and eavesdropping on the higher-ranking officers didn't provide much on the subject.

"Perhaps it's time I do some digging..." Dimitri finally muttered to himself.

He wasn't worried about getting caught. If he did, oh well, what did it matter? Death would probably be a better place considering his current circumstances. At the very least, Shadow trusted him enough to have full and free access of the entire compound, including a computer. However, the fully cyberized echidna didn't go underestimating the security of their network so he was careful not to go anywhere near places that would allow him to share information. Doing so would not only foolish, but would gain him nothing.

"Hmm, this is all very interesting..." he said pointedly with an arched brow.

Now that Dimitri thought about it, if the Master Emerald was actually stashed away somewhere, he would probably need a high clearance code to gain access to any files. But before Dimitri could consider trying his hand at hacking, a keyword search gave him hard proof that the Master Emerald was still atop its shrine at Angel Island. So, if that wasn't it, what on earth was this 'principle vessel'? And what interest would it be to Knuckles? Was it even here at this compound? Dimitri brought up the security surveillance system and began looking at every feed screen that was attached to a camera whether it was micro or a typical security camera. Dimitri was slightly amused to find that the more high-tech cameras were placed on the exterior points. Any poor soul that came within range of the perimeter, despite being a good 50 miles away would have a battalion upon him in seconds. Then he came upon one screen that appeared to be from the master bedroom of the mansion. Dimitri nearly skipped it when he suddenly saw a peculiar looking figure walking anxiously around. It appeared to be female, though Dimitri had a hard time making out the person because the feed was attached to a micro camera and thus was stationary. Once the figure came a little closer it was definitely female. Dimitri thought she looked particularly and rather wretched. So, who was this that was so important that she had a whole room to herself? Or was she a prisoner?

' _Wait, she looks...rather familiar..._ '

After a few minutes of studying her, the patriarch finally recalled where he had seen her before. She was one of those Freedom Fighters that every so often fought alongside Knuckles and his ilk. He didn't show it, but Dimitri was rather surprised to find her here of all people and places. Why on Mobius would have _her_ under tight lock and key? Dimitri continued to study her movements and started noticing that they were awkward and wobbly. Every 5 minutes or less, she bent over and wrapped her arms around her midriff. While the black and white screen didn't offer much clarity, it wasn't much for Dimitri to correctly deduce that she was expecting. Then all the elements slowly came together. Could this be the 'principle vessel' that Shadow was referring to?

xxxxxxx

Shadow arrived in Station Square where a whole troop of legionnaires keeping their weapons pointed at the mystery arsenal, were waiting for him. They had it surrounded and only parted to allow Shadow through after which his chest tightened a little. Sitting in the middle of the small crowd was what he thought it to be: E-123 Omega. The robot looked rather poorly maintenanced and covered with at least four or five inches of dust and dirt. In this state, Shadow wouldn't be surprised if his main hard drive or motherboards were corrupted. Or if Omega would still even function.

"Where was he found?" Shadow inquired.

"Inside storage unit number forty-two." a legionnaire replied pointing towards the left.

"Place him in the lab in the north building for extensive maintenance. And use extreme caution."

If Omega still had any functionality, that last thing Shadow needed was for him to go AWOL. At least now the robot would not be found by the opposition. And if all turned out well, Omega could be very useful as an ace-in-the-hole.

XXXXXXX

In New Mobotropolis, the winter weather was worse than it was in Station Square. Along with the heavy snow, came fierce thunderstorms. The lightning spread across the sky like a spider web, as the thunder shook the buildings. While Sally went over a few files on the Four Houses, a particularly loud clap nearly made her jump.

"Jeeze..." she muttered, placing a hand over her thumping heart.

She went over to her laptop and tapped a few keys.

"NICOLE, are you and Rotor done analyzing the weather patterns, yet?" she asked impatiently.

"Almost, Sally. Is there anything wrong?"

"Not really. But I don't recall we ever had a violent storm like this..."

"As far as we gather, you'll be seeing storms like this for quite longer."

Sally let out a groan. First the Dark Presence had went underground, making it almost impossible to track their movements, and now the bad weather was screwing up the radars and the communications.

"There might be something to that though." NICOLE added.

"What do you mean?" the monarch asked.

"Rotor's been looking into the data a bit more thoroughly than I have. He seems to think there's an anomaly."

"What kind of anomaly?"

"Something about the lightning wasn't natural. I have to agree that there's something strange about it. Anyway, he's holed up in the lab right now."

"Does he have Tails helping him?"

"Not really. Tails has been in and out of the lab though."

Sally stopped to think. Rotor knew well enough of their situation, so he wouldn't start a science project now.

"Do you really think it's important?" Sally inquired.

"Well, if it'll help us get our communications back online I think it should." NICOLE replied honestly.

"Oh, very well."

Hopefully, Rotor would find viable solution soon. There were three people she needed to contact. One of them being Knuckles.

XXXXXXX

The guardian of angel Island himself came into a room where Julie-Su and Espio were going over their tech for the mission. Everything had to be in perfect working order for this to work. Vector was testing a head set, while Charmy and Saffron were checking the camera feeds on a laptop.

"Well? How's everything coming along?" he asked.

"Smooth as silk." Julie-Su replied. "Mighty and Ray are out scouting locations for us."

The ruby echidna frowned at that last sentence.

"Shouldn't you have sent Espio for that?!"

"Oh, come off it. The island's hovering right over Station Square and they've got a warp ring handy."

"Still, what's going to happen if-chaos forbid-they get caught? Our cover might get blown."

"Knuckles for heaven sakes, they're on a strict no contact search. If they get spotted, they'll throw stun grenades and haul ass out of there."

"You know I had a thought..." Espio interrupted.

"WHAT?!" Knuckles and Julie-Su barked in unison.

"I'm wondering if Shadow is truly in Station Square per se."

"What do you mean?" asked Knuckles.

"While there's no doubt that it's become a base for the Dark Presence, are we completely sure that Shadow's physically there?"

"He has to be." Julie-Su protested. "Station Square is the center of the whole thing. That much we know for sure."

"Then kindly explain why Amy's signal is coming from at least forty miles away from the city."

Both echidnas stared blankly at the computer screen their comrade was sitting in front of. Knuckles was flabbergasted.

"Okay, when the hell did Amy get a homing device planted on her?!" he ranted.

"It's not ours." Espio responded coolly. "Earlier the Colonel confided in me that she might have been planted with homing or tracking device. It was a matter of locating the signal."

"But Shadow's not stupid." Julie-Su interjected. "He wouldn't leave a signal out in the open."

"Agreed. Which is why it took me at least five hours to track the frequency. And even then, it's still coming in fuzzy."

There was a silent pause.

"If Shadow's got a homing device on Amy, that complicates things a bit." Knuckles said thoughtfully. "We'll have to figure out a way to jam its signal."

"Anyone want to place bets that, that's what caused that safe house to be discovered in the first place?" Vector added.

"It's not like Amy _knew_ that jerk planted that stupid thing on her!" Julie-Su exclaimed.

"I'm not saying she did!" the crocodile replied defensively. "I'm just pointing out a probable contributing factor."

"In any event..." Knuckles continued impatiently. "Is this signal coming from a building, an outpost..?"

"From the looks of things, some sort of compound. No doubt it's heavily armed." Espio told him.

"Then we'll have to strike hard and fast."

XXXXXXX

Back in the compound, Amy meandered about the bedroom looking for something to keep her busy or preoccupied. The babies were constantly nudging at her from within. Amy half wished that Shadow would hurry up and finish whatever the hell he was doing and get back already. It seemed like any time he was physically there, the twins weren't so active. As she went about attempting to clean things up a little, Amy noted that the hall outside had become rather quiet. Though she had no intention of escaping, Amy did pluck up the courage to venture out of the room.

She poked her head out and found no one in the hall in either direction. Amy crept out and slightly leaned over the banister and discovered that the downstairs area was almost empty. Then the temptation to sneak whatever food there was from the kitchen raged wildly when she felt her stomach rumble. Looking both ways, she carefully walked down the hall, the two stairwells, and into the lower level kitchen. Amy downed a few apples, a part of a ration box, and a glass of water as quietly as she could so no one else who happened to be walking on the landing above would hear. Not that they would harm her anyway, but it would be lovely to avoid Shadow's wrath if she could. As carefully as she did before, she went up the stairs to the first floor. Still no one around much to the cherry-pink female's relief. After climbing the second stairwell, she suddenly came into contact with a rather bored and annoyed looking Dimitri.


End file.
